The BC Coroners Service is looking for the public’s help identifying human remains found in New Westminster dating back to 1978.
Between 1978 and 2001, the remains of five people were discovered in New Westminster and to this day the identities of those people are still unknown, according to the BC Coroners Service.
The agency has now created an interactive map in hopes of generating new leads in the cases and one day closing the investigations.
“By reaching out and engaging members of the public with the launch of this innovative tool, it's our hope to gain new investigative leads that will lead to the identification of these unidentified individuals and bring closure to their families,” said Lisa Lapointe, chief coroner, in a press release.
The map, which covers all of British Columbia, includes information on the nearly 200 unsolved cases involving unidentified human remains, with the earliest going all the way back to 1953.
In New Westminster, there are five outstanding cases of unidentified human remains, according to the information provided.
They include:
- A 27-year-old Caucasian man. His remains were found on Oct. 3, 1978 along the edge of the Fraser River near the entrance to Sapperton Landing. Investigators believe he died six months before his body was found. He was wearing a light coloured front buttoned shirt and was five feet and seven inches tall. (case no. 1978-CFU-001).
- A woman between 30 and 50 years old. Her remains were found June 12, 1991, along the edge of the Fraser River between the SkyTrain bridge and the Pattullo Bridge, but investigators believe she could have been dead for up to a month before the discovery. She was five feet five inches tall with black hair, and she was wearing a blue cardigan and pink sweater with large eagle on front and blue denim jeans, a buckled leather belt and size-eight running shoes. She had a scar on her wrist and had on a Cardinal watch and a stud earring with the head of a unicorn (case no. 1991-0225-0952).
- A man between 18 and 30 years old. His remains were found Feb. 1, 1978, on Front Street between Church and Fourth streets. Investigators believe he died 20 to 50 years before his body was discovered. He was between five feet and five feet and six inches tall (case no. 1978-CFU-003).
- A man between 18 and 35 years old. His remains were found in the Fraser River near the eastern tip of Annacis Island on July 20, 1990. Investigators believe he died one to five years before his body was found. He was five feet eight inches tall (case no. 1990-0223-1194).
- An Aboriginal-Asian man between 30 and 50 years old. His remains were found Aug. 15, 2001 in the Fraser River near the east end of Poplar Island. Investigators believe he died one to two weeks before the remains were found. He was between five feet three inches and five feet eight inches tall. He had one Colorado-brand beige fleece jacket, a beige T-shirt, Tip Top-brand grey T-shirt and Radizion-brand 34-inch black pants (case no. 2001-0216-0751).
Anyone with information or questions about any of the investigations displayed on the interactive map is asked to contact the special investigations unit at [email protected] and to quote the file number provided. Click here to see the map.
