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Courtesy of The Province
Missing women 'might' be victims of serial killer
 Crime; Special Report by Adrienne Tanner, Staff Reporter
Vancouver police Det. Lori Shenher avoids the term "serial killer" like a sticky wad of gum on the sidewalk.
She sees it, acknowledges it and deftly steps around it.
Shenher has dropped the initial police line that the 22 women who have vanished from the downtown east side since 1995 are just as likely to show up alive as dead.
Prostitutes and drug addicts do not lead transient lives. If anything, addiction and poverty trap them on the sleazy strip between Powell and Hastings where it's possible to turn a trick and score in a matter of minutes.
Police certainly suspect foul play, Shenher says. But is this the work of one serial killer?
"I think there might be. My partner thinks there might be. But 'might' is the operative word, because we've had these couple of pleasant surprises."
Two missing women have been found alive. One turned up after two years in an Arizona psychiatric hospital, the other after a few months in Nanaimo.
Shenher has been looking hard for the others since July, when she volunteered to join Det. Al Howlett in the Vancouver police department's missing-persons section to tackle the mystery.
It is proving the ultimate challenge for the young homicide detective.
There are no bodies, no signs of foul play. Just class politics, accusations the police aren't taking the disappearances seriously and a sudden media interest in the case.
Deborah Jardine isn't satisfied with the efforts to find her daughter Angela, who disappeared just before Christmas. Angela lived in the Portland Hotel, was mentally challenged and turned tricks to feed her drug addiction. She called Deborah, who lives in Sparwood, once or twice a month.
Left: Angela Rebecca Jardine: disappeared just before Christmas; Right: Rick Loughran, The Province / Portland Hotel manager Mark Thompson displays personal effects of Angela Jardine, missing from downtown east side.
When she vanished, police didn't check to see if she'd gone home for the holidays, Deborah says. It also took a month for them to print up a missing-person bulletin.
"The police have an oath to protect and serve. Obviously this doesn't apply to a person with Angela's social status."
Similar criticisms have come from agencies and advocates for the poor in the downtown east side.
Mark Townsend runs the Portland Hotel and knew Angela and a few of the other missing women. He says it wasn't until the media latched on to the story last summer that a second officer was added to the case.
The problem is not with Shenher, who Townsend believes cares deeply about the women and is working hard on the case. "It's the higher-ups. There isn't a commitment to this."
Public pressure has now caused politicians to endorse a $100,000 reward for information on the disappearances. The announcement this weekend has mollified some parents who see it as a sign the police are getting serious about the case.
Shenher is not convinced a reward will yield much of value. Homicide experts say rewards are "very, very seldom, if ever, effective."
Cross-country checks to see whether the women are claiming welfare or using health services in other provinces have turned up nothing. Attempts to match unidentified bodies in B.C. with the missing women also struck out. It's possible, but unlikely, that unidentified remains in other provinces or U.S. states may account for one or two others. Missing-person reports are logged on to a national computer system monitored by police in all provinces.
There is some hope too that a few of the women could be living in other cities under assumed names. Shenher is compiling a list of social-service agencies in Canada and nearby states. Once complete, she will send them photos of the missing women.
Shenher has shifted her investigative focus. She's treating the cases as linked and is hunting for "men who have shown a history of this kind of behavior."
A glance at the "bad date" sheet circulated on the streets to steer prostitutes away from violent johns proves there is no shortage of men who abuse prostitutes. Shenher would like to talk to them.
Will one turn out to be a serial killer?
Local prostitutes seem to think so. Many have dropped their privacy shields and registered with local community agencies.
Shenher isn't likely to speculate much more about a serial killer. Not, at least, until someone is behind bars.
Should anyone from the public have information regarding the homicide or disappearance of a Vancouver street trade worker, please phone Crime Stoppers at 604-662-TIPS (8477) or the Missing Woman Tip line at 1-877-687-3377.
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