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Experts say Investigative Genetic Genealogy, also known as IGG, is showing incredible promise in solving cold cases abroad. But the technology is not yet commonly used in Canada. Could Cheri, Melissa and Kimberly’s cases one day be solved through IGG? And what’s preventing law enforcement from using it more frequently in Canada?

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The 'teen hooker’ headlines are symbolic of the very real stigma and victim blaming involved in the cases of Cheri, Melissa and Kimberly. What role did the shaming of sexually exploited youth play in the murders, the investigations and how the media told their stories?

Signs someone you know could be being sex trafficked.

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When Melissa, Cheri and Kimberly were killed in Victoria, there may have been four serial killers preying on sex trade workers and sexually exploited youth on the coast. Who are these predators, and what has been done to exclude them from the cases on the island?

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The men close to Cheri, Melissa and Kimberly, at the time of their deaths, are all potential suspects. Boyfriends, pimps, and sex traffickers, could any of them have wanted the girls gone?

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Cheri, Kimberly and Melissa were all last seen on the stroll in downtown Victoria. The activities of the area starkly contrast the elegant image Victoria is trying to sell tourists. It becomes a fertile hunting ground for predators.

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Melissa Nicholson’s badly beaten body is found on the side of the road.  Newspapers at the time describe her as "teen hooker #3", but her family only remembers her big smile, sparkly personality, and honey-coloured hair. The 17-year-old is last seen on the Victoria stroll.

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Cheri Lynn Smith spends her days reading the bible and writing to her parents. Before she's killed, Cheri is lured away from her Regina home by a sex trafficker posing as her boyfriend. Not long after, a horseback rider finds her body in the underbrush outside of Victoria, B.C., Canada.

Thank you to Cheri's parents for permitting me to use the audio from their interview on 'Listen Up TV' -and to host Lorna Dueck for agreeing to make the audio available to Island Crime.

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For three decades, Rhonda has wondered why someone killed her high school friend Kimberly Gallup. Kimberly was a girl who loved the Kansas City Chiefs and Bon Jovi. Her death has a lasting impact on all who knew her. 

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The year is 1990 and within about 12 months three teenage girls will be murdered in Victoria, B.C., Canada. Before they were found dead, all three girls were lured into sex trafficking with promises of love and money. Today, it's been more than thirty years since they were killed, and their killer, or killers, have never been found. 

Island Crime Season 6: Sweethearts exposes the stigma surrounding their deaths and asks whether time and technology can finally bring justice for their families. 

New episodes coming April 2024. 

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