Woman still unidentified after 40 years

This case isn't listed on Hamilton Police's website, I found out about her here, actually.

The surprising thing for me about this woman is that she doesn't fit the bill of 'ignorable cases'--she was married, had nice clothing, jewelry with distinct markings and yet her identity is still a mystery. I find it odd, too, that I can't find any coverage on her regionally. Hopefully we can attain some photographs of her clothing and personal items to make it easier for someone to recognize and identify her.

Below is a map of the general region she was found.

Ideal next steps for the Halton Region Woman, found 1978

The more I look at the file on this found, unidentified woman, the more I am convinced that this project needs to exist. The RCMP listing gives a single, almost indistinguishable, black and white photograph of a scrap of clothing to help the public identify this woman. Keep in mind that they list some very unique clothing, such as a "green, yellow...pink and orange floral pattern" homemade jacket.

Given the volume of evidence found, the ideal next steps would be to take photographs of her clothing. The RCMP report also mentions some very distinguishing features such as missing teeth and "severe osteoarthritis [in her] lower thoracic and lumbar" areas, resulting in high levels of pain. Moreover, (and especially considering there are some talented artists on the internet already doing this in their spare time), confirm whether an artist rendering could be done of her face to approximate her appearance.

After that, it would be a matter of distribution. Social media may not be the best way to go since she was found so long ago (1978) (her relatives and loved ones may not be the Twitter and Facebook types), but perhaps newspaper coverage could really help disseminate some new information about her.

I'll be contacting the RCMP, and will let you know how it unfolds.

What we know so far about Dana Zelic

Dana, at the age of 26, disappeared from her residence August 30, 1999 without personal items including identification and medication. She has not communicated with her family or loved ones since.

Here is the Missing Persons listing on the Hamilton Police Service site. The Doe Network listing gives far more information, however, noting that she was pictured in a Hamilton Spectator photograph on September 17, 1999 after she had been declared missing (August 30, 1999).

The Doe Network listing also mentions that she was in contact with a friend a year after her disappearance, and that another friend saw her another year after that, though there is no publicly available evidence to substantiate those claims.

A beautiful portrait of Dana Zelic was painted by artist Ilene Sova and can be seen here.

What we know so far about Sheryl Sheppard

Sheryl, 30, was last seen January 2, 1998 after her fiancé Michael Lavoie (pictured to the right) allegedly dropped her off at Lundy's Lane in Niagara Falls, ON. Her disappearance has been ruled a homicide and Lavoie has been publicly named as a suspect in the case.

A beautiful portrait of Sheryl Sheppard by artist Ilene Sova can be seen here.

The 2014 CBC article "Advocating for victims of crime" highlights the Victims Services advocacy done by the Hamilton Police Services and their awareness-raising campaigns every April for the victims of crime.

The 2011 Hamilton Spectator article "In a cold case, hope is hot" interviews Sheppard's mother and discusses the only suspect in the case -- Sheppard's fiancé Michael Lavoie. In 2008 Lavoie was named the person of interest by the head of the Homicide Unit, Staff Sergeant Ian Matthews.

In 2011 the Sheppard case also received some publicity for increasing the reward from $10,000 to $50,000 for tips leading to a conviction.

The Beginning. What we know so far about Susan Gourley

Susan was last seen in the Barton and Stirton Avenue area in Hamilton, ON in November 2001 (see map below). Hamilton Police states she was reported missing by friends and family August 30, 2002, though the RCMP states she was reported missing by her mother February 28, 2002.

The Hamilton Spectator has reported on her suspected link to other assaults and murders of women in Hamilton. Read about it here.

The Ottawa Community News printed the Hamilton Police synopsis of Gourley's disappearance here.

There are also a handful of articles about found teenager Felicia Floriani, whose disappearance is assumed to be related to Gourley's. CHCH coverage here.

Ensuring community-led missing persons campaigns are helpful and not harmful

Doing research about successful (and highly creative, and tech-savvy) community-led missing person campaigns, it seems that the Missed Lives Project will be very helpful. As this article notes, social media pages/attention are important, but that there can be detriments.

In particular, unattended forums where tips and information are ignored can be problematic. Moreover, the result can be malicious and snowballing slander. Key will be ensuring that leads in criminal cases are going to Police, but social media will also be important to cater to folks who a) don't have a trust/good relationship with law enforcement, and b) who haven't found the Police outreach useful/visible.

Surprisingly, it's been written that the milk-carton campaign for missing children was not as effective as I had thought. It turns out that by putting children on an object that was commonly around children themselves, it created fearful and anxious responses, and worries about becoming a victim of child abduction. Not only is this key to realize in terms of what missing persons campaigns can negatively create (i.e. a public fear), but also to consider the impact of techniques on various members of the community.

While it's hard to imagine a community-led campaign could be as fear-inducing as the milk cartons (or the many many tv shows that sensationalize the violence and heartache of victims' families), it is possible that by bringing a community focus to regional cases that the systemic nature of violence will/could become unsettling. In particular, though watching Unsolved Mysteries/Dateline/48 Hours may be worrisome, it creates a type of distance between the viewer and victim (and a 'that could never happen in my neighbourhood/family' mentality). Alternatively, this Missed Lives Project may create unsettling links between victims and their communities. It will be important to keep this in mind moving forward so that campaigns are about empowerment and not fearfulness or re-traumatization.

Something to strive towards

This response to the disappearance of Seble Dietrich in Guelph, Ontario has been really inspiring. The fact that her community has kept her in the news, held rallies to bring awareness and produced a well-rounded depiction of her as a person is so important.

I wish every person had this type of community response.

So it begins...

This all began long ago, in shards, bits and pieces, leading to this project.

I was raised to be aware of the world around me, and skeptical of the status quo. This skepticism was honed through years of research and study, leading to a Master's degree from McMaster in Cultural Studies and Critical Theory. What I learned during my years in university was able to hone my passion for feminist causes through studying and volunteering with marginalized communities. Over time it became increasingly apparent that certain key activities, people, and situations were missing from ongoing local, provincial and national dialogues.

Then one day I woke up with the strong pull to attain a Private Investigator's license. I assured myself I had no aspirations of becoming a rogue detective, but instead set out to volunteer my time (and newly acquired license) to help individuals who might need a person with these skills but not have the funds to acquire it privately. But there was no such organization to join.

I thought of "The Innocence Project": an incredible organization for individuals in need of dedicated support and skill without a cost. Where was this project for missing people? I read up more on missing and murdered women in Canada and saw that repeatedly the families and loved ones were pushed out of the loop--forced to wait for police to solve the case or face the alternative which was thousands of dollars on private investigative teams, publicity (billboards, newspaper ads, etc), and considerable amounts of energy.

Moreover, the families and loved ones not only were lacking access to investigative services but also to the ability to tell the community about their missing. It's not a secret that there are key demographics that are ignored when they go missing, or when they are spoken of it is only irrelevant and judgmental details of their lives. Take a look at Susan Gourley's Hamilton Police page. The photo of her is a mugshot, the details of her life were that she was 'known to police' and that she was a sex worker. Taking a look at the list of media coverage on Susan, it's easy to see that she was never offered a well-rounded representation. Compare that to, for example, the disappearance of Tim Bosma in 2013 which sparked a media firestorm. Everyone deserves that type of dignity, visibility, and community--this Project aims to even the scales, even if only by a fraction.

These were the realizations that started this project, and it got me asking: What about the ability for these families to have access to all the tools they need for a search (including the key choice of leading or allowing the community to lead the efforts to find them)? What about a hub to allow the community to check in on these individuals, the progress of the searches, and a place for engagement in their lives? What about a place to link investigative firms, journalists, university/college departments and local businesses that wish to lend their support to families and individuals who need them most?

This project didn't exist, but now it does. It's time to find our missing.