Cold Case Canada

Ronnie Jack, 26, Doreen Jack, 26, Russell 9, and Ryan 4 were last seen on August 2, 1989 at their home in Prince George. Earlier that night, Ronnie met a guy in the pub who offered him a job bucking logs and Doreen work in the camp kitchen. They told their family that there was a daycare for the boys and they'd be gone about 10 days. And then they vanished.  This episode is based on a story from ...

In 1978, 12-year-old Monica Jack was riding her bike near her home on the Upper Nicola reserve at Quilchena when she was abducted, raped and murdered. And, even though Garry Handlen was a suspect early on in this investigation and questioned in the 1975 murder of 11-year-old Kathryn-Mary Herbert, it would take another 36 years and a Mr. Big sting to convict him. This episode is based on a story fr...

Saanich residents Tanya Van Cuylenborg, 18 and Jay Cook, 20 were murdered while on an overnight trip to Washington State in 1987. Episode includes interviews with Detective Jim Scharf of the Snohomish Country Sheriff's Office and CeCe Moore, Chief Genetic Genealogist at Parabon Nanolabs, who cracked this case three decades later. This episode is based on a story from Cold Case BC: the stories behi...

Len Hogue was one of three dirty VPD cops who supplemented their salaries initially through B&Es, escalated to bank robberies, and in 1965 pulled off the biggest heist in Vancouver’s history - $1.2 million worth of bank notes that were being sent back to Ottawa to be destroyed. When police officials caught on, 33-year-old Hogue went home, shot his sleeping wife in the head, and then hunted down an...

In 1956, Len Hogue, David Harrison and Joe Percival joined the Vancouver Police Department and within a few years, became known as the “terrible three.” The cops were supplementing their salaries initially through B&Es, escalated to bank robberies, and in 1965, pulled off the biggest heist in Vancouver’s history - $1.2 million worth of stolen bank notes that were being sent to Ottawa to be destroy...

Tanya Busch disappeared on the way to her Vancouver school on June 2, 1972. She was the second 7-year-old abducted in just over two years. Was there a connection? This episode is based on original research and interviews from a chapter in my book Cold Case Vancouver: the city's most baffling unsolved murders For photos, show credits, sources and information about my books, blog or podcasts visit: ...

On November 20, 1969, seven-year-old Evangeline Azarcon disappeared on her way home from Edith Cavell Elementary in Vancouver. Her abduction sparked the biggest search in BC’s history. Two years later another seven-year-old was abducted on her way to her Vancouver school. Was there a connection? This episode is based on original research and interviews from a chapter in my book Cold Case Vancouver...

It's almost 70 years since they were found buried in Vancouver's Stanley Park, but now the Babes in the Woods have their names back. They were Derek and David D'Alton aged 7 and 6 when they were beaten to death with a hatchet.  This episode is based on a chapter in my upcoming book Cold Case BC: the stories behind the province's most sensational murders and missing persons cases   For more informa...

The Halloween Special is the last episode of Season 2. Join me and five storytellers as they tell you their favourite ghost stories: a haunted nightclub, a shooting, a former insane asylum, the Chinatown ghost, a cemetery and a haunted grand piano. Photo: Riverdale Psychiatric Hospital, courtesy Coquitlam Archives  

In 1965, Rene Castellani, a 40-year-old radio personality murdered his wife Esther with arsenic-laced milkshakes so he could marry Lolly, CKNW’s 25-year-old receptionist. The Castellani's had an 11-year-old daughter called Jeannine, who became the collateral damage in one of the most sensational murder cases of the 20th century.  This episode is based on original research and interviews from  Murd...

In 1965, Rene Castellani, a 40-year-old radio personality murdered his wife Esther with arsenic-laced milkshakes so he could marry Lolly, CKNW’s 25-year-old receptionist. The Castellani's had an 11-year-old daughter called Jeannine, who became the collateral damage in one of the most sensational murder cases of the 20th century.  This episode is based on original research and interviews from Murde...

Three weeks after Pat Lowther was reported missing, her body was discovered by a family out for a hike at Furry Creek, about 50 kilometres from her Vancouver home. She had been beaten to death with a hammer by a man who was jealous of her strong, often violent feminist poetry and her growing place in the Canadian literary scene.  Photo: Pat Lowther and Fred Candelaria co-chairs of the League of Ca...

In the months leading up to her murder, Muriel Lindsay had been targeted and harassed. Her cat was stolen, she’d received bizarre anonymous letters, and someone had used her credit card to take out subscriptions and make a donation to the United Way in her name. Who was stalking Muriel and why was this 40-year-old postal worker found beaten to death in her West End apartment? Cold Case Canada is b...

On February 22, 1975 country and western singer Debbie Roe, 22 finished her shift at the OK Corral, stopped to get gas and something to eat. Her body was found the next day on an isolated stretch of highway in Langley, BC. Just two months earlier, the body of Barbara LaRocque, 22 had been found nearby. Barbara worked at the Syndicate, a club with the same owner as the OK Corral. In March 1975, the...

At the start of 1985, things looked good for Jimmy and Lily Ming. The couple had two small children, owned their own home and worked in the family’s thriving Robson Street restaurant. But by the end of January, Jimmy and Lily had been kidnapped from their Vancouver house, the restaurant was closed and the rest of the Ming family feared for their lives. This podcast is based on original research an...

Sixteen-year-old Rhona Duncan was murdered in the early hours of July 15, 1976 after walking home from a high school birthday party. She was in sight of her North Vancouver house, when she was intercepted, raped and strangled. Although 45 years has gone by, Rhona’s friends still get together to remember her and to try and solve her murder. Some believe they know who did it. This podcast is based o...

On January 7, 1976, Brenda Young, a 38-year-old mother of four, was found murdered in her store the Good Earth on Lower Lonsdale in North Vancouver. After I wrote about Brenda in my book Cold Case Vancouver, a retired detective contacted me and said Brenda’s murder was a case of mistaken identity. He believed that a corrupt RCMP officer, then in jail, put out a contract on the female police inform...

In 1954, Bob Hopkins worked at the Vancouver News Herald. He was a friendly man who kept to himself and was liked by his colleagues. None of them knew that Bob was gay and lived a secret life. He had to. In the 1950s homosexuality was illegal and coming out would have meant losing his job, his place in the community, and possibly his family. This podcast is based on original research and interview...

On September 15, 1954, Danny Brent’s body was found on the tenth green at UBC’s golf course. Stuffed inside his shirt was an early edition of the newspaper, soaked with his blood. There was a half-smoked cigarette inside his shirt where it had dropped from his mouth when he was shot—once in the back and twice in the head with .45-calibre bullets. This podcast is based on original research and inte...

I'm Eve Lazarus, a reporter and author based in Vancouver, BC. This is a 12-episode podcast based on original research from my book Blood, Sweat, and Fear: the story of Inspector Vance . Inspector Vance was Canada’s first forensic investigator. He worked for the Vancouver Police Department and helped solved some of the most sensational murder cases of the twentieth century. For more information ab...

The Babes in the Woods is the story of two tiny skeletons found in Stanley Park in 1953. The case is still unsolved, but the investigation continues. In part two I visit the site where the boys were found and talk with the VPD Inspector who ordered an exhumation in 2015 in an effort to identify the boys. We also hear about the latest development from the coroner who is currently revisiting Vancouv...

The Babes in the Woods is the story of two tiny skeletons found in Stanley Park in 1953. It is one of Vancouver's oldest and most fascinating unsolved murder mysteries.  Cover art: Katarina Thorsen This podcast is based on a story from my book  Cold Case Vancouver: the city's most baffling unsolved murders For crime scene photos, show credits, sources and information about my books, blog or podcas...

In December 1965, 17-year-old Tom Kosberg made milkshakes for his parents and four siblings, dosed them with sleeping pills, and then hacked up their bodies with a double-bladed axe. Only the baby survived. Tom was found not guilty by reason of insanity. So, why was he out in 10? This podcast is based on a story from my book Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City's Hidden History For crime scen...

Windemere Secondary School student Louise Wise had just turned 17 when she was stabbed to death in her East Vancouver home in 1971. Two years later, Geraldine Forster, 19 was shot to death at Renfrew Street and Grandview Highway with a Mountie's .38 service revolver. For a while police thought there was a connection, but when Louise's case was reopened 25 years later, detectives found the murder k...

A Halloween Special that travels to Chilliwack to cover the Hostess with the Ghostess; to North Vancouver for the Grain Elevators: a fire and a ghost story; to Victoria for Murder in James Bay; and to the Vogue Theatre's resident's ghost.  Stories are from my books Vancouver Exposed ; At Home with History ; and Sensational Victoria . For photos, show credits, sources and information about my books...