Grim find ends 11-year mystery
Remains near Leduc ID’d as missing woman
At the time she went missing 11 years ago, Delores Dawn Brower had been working on the streets a long time.
Police officers who patrolled the neighbourhoods north of downtown knew her as a seasoned, streetwise woman, who nonetheless managed to maintain a pleasant demeanour.
“She was easy to deal with, not one of those angry, ‘the world is out to get me’ types,” said JoAnn McCartney, who worked in an Edmonton police vice unit at the time. “But she was sad. I remember one time she said to me, ‘JoAnn, I don’t know why you bother. We’re just a waste of time.’ ”
Officers last saw the 33-year-old Métis woman in the early morning hours of May 13, 2004, when she was spotted trying to hitchhike a ride from the corner of 118th Avenue and 70th Street.
Her subsequent fate had been a mystery until Tuesday, when RCMP announced her skeletal remains had been found on a rural property east of Leduc.
The grisly discovery, made by a property owner walking though a wooded area on April 19, was not far from the sites where the remains of two other women had been found in past years.
“(Her relatives) have lived through not knowing where Delores was or what may have become of her,” Insp. Stacey Talbot told reporters at the RCMP’s Edmonton headquarters. “Unfortunately their greatest fears have now been confirmed.”
Called Spider by her friends, Brower was a sextrade worker and drug user known to Project KARE, an RCMP-led task force set up to investigate the deaths and disappearances of women in high-risk lifestyles. Prior to going missing, she had registered with the task force by sharing details about her family, her past and her medical, dental and DNA records.
She also told friends she had a plan to get off the streets, saying she found a male friend who would take her in and give her a rent break. Relatives, friends and investigators had hoped Brower had succeeded in her plan, but those hopes faded as more and more years passed with no word on her whereabouts.
“While we are saddened to have confirmation that Delores’ remains have been found, there is a sense of thankfulness as well,” her family said in a written statement through the RCMP. “We loved Delores and are grateful to have some closure.
“While we are grieving with some sense of relief, we know there are many families have yet to find the answers they are seeking,” the statement added, noting several other investigations into missing and murdered women from the Edmonton area remain unsolved.
As it turned out, the dental records Brower provided to RCMP were required to identify her. Talbot said her remains are still with the medical examiner for further examination. A cause of death has not been identified.
“We need the public’s assistance in finding out what happened to Delores,” Talbot said.
At the time she was last seen in 2004, Brower was wearing a black sweater and black jeans, with her hair down. She had scars on her left and right forearms.
“She had been out there a long time, but it just goes to show you that even for the seasoned people, it’s a very dangerous life,” said McCartney, who now does counselling for women trying to leave the streets. She said she was saddened, but not surprised to hear of Brower’s death.
“She had been missing 10 years, so you have to assume the worst. At least police now have a place to start investigating.”
RCMP confirmed the remains of two other women leading high-risk lifestyles were found within an eightkilometre radius of where Brower was discovered.
Amber Tuccaro’s skull was discovered by horseback riders in a heavily treed area on Sept. 1, 2012, about two years after the 20-year-old went missing. In July 2003, the body of 40-year-old Katie Ballantyne was found in a nearby farmer’s field. She had last been seen alive in Edmonton’s north end in April of that year.
“The RCMP are exploring any and all possibilities to move this investigation forward,” Talbot said. “They are definitely all being looked at in that geographic area.”
Asked if police consider this particular slice of land east of Leduc as a “dumping ground” for a killer, she said: “We are looking at that possibility, but we have not confirmed anything at this point.”