Top of the new month, means we are back to discussing current MMIW cases. This time we talk about numerous women. Many of them have the same thing in common, their case files are bare bones. There is little to no information on their cases, but there is suspicious circumstances in all of them. From falling 30 stories to disappearing while hitchhiking in an attempt to get her children back from the state. The RCMP continues to throw the term, high risk lifestyle out, making it feel like an excuse rather than simply investigating. 

Sources:

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/bella-marie-laboucan-mclean

https://itstartswithus-mmiw.com/this-is-bellas-story/

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/bernadette-lynda-ahenakew

https://www.justicefornativepeople.com/2016/09/bernadette-ahenakew-murdered-in-alberta.html

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/bernadine-quewezance

https://someonesawsomething.ca/2026/01/14/the-unsolved-murder-of-bernadine-leanne-quewezance/

https://crimeimmemorial.com/2025/09/29/bernadine-quewezance/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/family-of-saskatoon-woman-struggle-with-news-of-death-1.1156157

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/bernice-evelyn-bottle

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/betsy-rosa-owens

https://storiesoftheunsolved.com/2022/02/12/the-disappearance-of-betsy-owens/

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/bonnie-lynn-jack

https://primetimecrime.com/Recent/Murder/murder_Edmonton_Serial.htm

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/bonnie-lynn-jack-remembered-at-service-1.628841

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/bonnie-marie-joseph

https://coldcasepg.ca/?p=134

https://missingpeople.ca/cold-case-missing-woman-in-vanderhoof-british-columbia-bonnie-marie-joseph-32-last-seen-september-8-2007/

Quisi Bryan was born in Massachusetts and spent his youth on the East Coast. Still, he started in youth corrections before graduating to adult corrections when he moved into the Midwest. It was in Ohio that many crimes continued, but didn't come to light until he was already behind bars. In 2000, he shot a police officer in the face, ending both their lives.  After receiving his death sentence, it came out that he had been the perpetrator of numerous rapes and assaults. As of this time, his current death sentence has been delayed on multiple occasions. The latest one as a result of not being able to get the medication necessary to safely end a life per DOC protocol. 

Sources:

Quisi Bryan-Via Letters and messages

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/execution-date-pushed-back-for-man-convicted-of-killing-cleveland-police-officer-wayne-leon

https://www.cleveland19.com/2025/06/20/execution-delayed-man-who-killed-cleveland-police-officer/

https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-9372/108342/20190717140040636_17528181_1.PDF

https://grokipedia.com/page/Quisi_Bryan

https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Briefing-Room/News-Releases/Criminal-Justice/BryanStay

https://www.hudson.oh.us/1270/Violent-Fugitive-Task-Force

The Amber alert system is a nationwide alert system to immediately broadcast information on vulnerable children, children who have been abducted and are in danger. But how did this system fall into place. Well it came after Amber Hagerman, a nine year old abducted by a stranger. The first media information about her case aired two hours after the incident. Likely allowing the kidnapper turned killer to make it to the location he held her without being detected. 

The delay was noticed. Many people got involved and created a plan to immediately get information out. At the time through the use of the radio. Since it's start in Arlington Texas, it has grown. Being taken on nationally and signed on by former president George Bush. Now information is disseminated through phones, TV's, and radios to ensure blanket coverage. 

Yet for all that, we still have no answers for who stole and killed Amber. 

Sources: 

Amber: The Girl Behind the Alert

https://www.eastchicago.com/235/Amber-Alert

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/a-key-figure-in-amber-hagerman-case-urges-vigilance-to-protect-children/3967202/

http://missingkids.org/blog/2021/still-searching-for-ambers-killer

https://people.com/what-happened-to-amber-hagerman-11883708

One Monday in 1979, 16 year old Brenda Spencer stayed home from school. She told her father that she felt sick and after he left for work, Brenda watched the elementary school across the street. Shortly after 8 am, as the children filed in, Brenda pulled out her .22 rifle, took aim and began shooting. She killed two adults and wounded many others including children and police officers. After 3pm, she simply turned herself in. 

Eventually she plead guilty, her sentence 25 to life with the eligibility of parole after 15.5 years. 

Brenda has been denied parole at least six times, but her next hearing will occur in 2028.

Sources:

https://www.sdcda.org/content/office/newsroom/tempDownloads/75bec742-da77-491d-af19-b1fbcef5c946_Brenda%20Spenser%20Denied%20Parole%20News%20Release%202-21-25.pdf

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/january-29/school-shooting-in-san-diego

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/i-dont-like-mondays-school-shooter-denied-parole/509-113898c9-c56a-44b4-a64f-75167d82cadd

The CBC has a list of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman. Throughout 2025, I have spoken on many of the cases, but couldn't manage to get out of the A's. Today we started the letter B, so still barely scratching the surface. But all of them should be talked about. As often as possible. 

Sources:

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/barbara-keam

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/barbara-keam-family-quest-1.3800637

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/barbara-shapwaykeesic

https://www.justicefornativepeople.com/2018/10/barbara-shapwaykeesic-found-murdered-in.html

https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ocpc/TBPSB_Investigation_Final_Report_-_EN-FINAL-1.pdf

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/beatrice-adam

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/?profileID=belinda-ann-cameron

https://www.indigenouswatchdog.org/update/daughter-of-first-nations-woman-missing-20-years-remembers-her-mothers-warm-hands/

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3441dfbc.html

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/?profileID=belinda-williams

https://storiesoftheunsolved.com/2023/08/13/belinda-williams/

https://www.mbcradio.com/2014/10/father-says-muskoday-woman-died-from-prescription-drug-addiction#:~:text=The%20body%20of%2036%2Dyear%2Dold%20Beatrice,been%20reported%20missing%20on%20Saturday.

Tomas Randolph was married six times. Multiple of his wives ended up dead under suspicious circumstances.  He went to trial multiple times for different murders. He was a known drug user/seller. Eventually, his lifestyle caught up with him when he was convicted of his sixth wife's murder. Finally ending his reign of terror on women. 

Sources: 

https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/television/the-black-widower-the-six-wives-of-thomas-randolph-review-misfortune-or-murder-de15d23b?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqcv-jk9RVCSNVm89ZB_MCI7ybP8AAPGBV2OrJhQDwDDBiomh2zyaKy0U7ZWZ9k%3D&gaa_ts=6948647a&gaa_sig=eL4g2s7vqbZjshwCxDWqApj_UtM6LvUNjz9zy8WRYG09TO2Z8FP4l5gY84z6Qu19tpOxgQlfTJc_Rw9sDSaxKQ%3D%3D

https://news3lv.com/news/local/thomas-randolph-gets-60-years-to-life-in-resentencing-for-double-murder-conviction-black-widower-las-vegas-clark-county-court-true-crime-homicide-wife-hitman

https://skdb.fandom.com/wiki/RANDOLPH_Thomas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ldPOww27G8

https://www.courttv.com/tag/thomas-randolph/

https://people.com/black-widower-thomas-randolph-investigation-discovery-docuseries-8676928

https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/west/black-widower-thomas-randolph-sentenced/

https://thecinemaholic.com/thomas-randolph/

"The Black Widower: The Six Wives of Thomas Randolph" (2024)

"The Widower" (2021): A three-part Dateline NBC docuseries

Jen and Sarah Hart seemed like the perfect couple. As they grew, they adopted two different groups of siblings, six children in all. Rapidly expanding the family from two to eight. While Jen curated a social media presence with perfect photographs of the family, behind the scenes was a different story. The children were beaten and starved. One of them jumped out a window to get help, another sought food from neighbors. The couple withdrew the children from school and moved multiple times. But CPS kept catching up. Finally they went on the run, ending in a fatal car crash which ended the lives of the entire family. But it wasn't an accident, it was murder-suicide.

Sources:

Broken Harts. 

https://www.opb.org/news/article/hart-family-washington-california-death-inquest-day-2/

https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_psychology/75/

https://theappeal.org/before-childrens-grisly-deaths-a-family-fought-for-them-and-lost/

In 1978, four teenagers closed the Burger Chef in Speedway, Indiana. Sometime after 1100pm they are all loaded into the skilled. Police treat it as a kidnapping, allowing day employees of the restaurant to clean up and open for business as usual. Destroying any potential evidence in their wake. While there were thousands of tips called in, none lead to anything. The case went cold and it has remained that way, ever since.

Sources: 

Murders at the Burger Joint-Netflix

Julie Young, 2019. The Burger Chef Murders in Indiana.

⁠https://www.madison.k12.sd.us/article/1792770⁠

⁠http://indyencyclopedia.org/burger-chef-murders/⁠

⁠https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/crime/new-documentary-explores-1978-burger-chef-murders⁠

Suzanne and Christopher seemed like a boring reclusive couple. They lived a simple life, but the pair held a large secret. Buried in the garden of Suzannes old family home were her parents. Another couple that had been so reclusive, nobody noticed when they went missing in 1998. It wasn't until father William would have turned 100, that the requirement for him to be checked up on in person, did the two panic and flee. A year later in France, they were out of money, Christopher called his mother in law, confessing his crimes. She dutifully notified police, finally the truth was dug up.

Sources:

The Body Under The Patio: Murder in Suburbia

⁠https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-27836459⁠

⁠https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/20/william-patricia-wycherley-murder-unnoticed-15-years⁠

⁠https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/susan-christopher-edwards-now-convicted-murderers-2783077?srsltid=AfmBOopGvWNlDQ_Sehpml644BybVxII5O90oZb3cX0YI5NDuzdLgWAIq⁠

⁠https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/r-v-edwards-edwards.pdf⁠

⁠https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/25/the-murderers-next-door⁠

⁠https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-27924098⁠

Azraya Ackabee-Kokopenace was born on March 6th 2002. She was found hanging April 17th, 2016. In a place, searches looked the day before after walking out of a hospital. She was supposedly noted to have suicidal ideations, yet was allowed to leave. She was a member of the same tribe that suffers from mercury poisoning. Her older brother having passed away at an early age as a result from complications from the poisoning. Yet the government refuses to take accountability or action. Creating generations affected by the same muddied waters that they made their livelihood off of. 

Sources:

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/

https://storiesoftheunsolved.com/2020/02/12/the-death-of-azraya-ackabee-kokopenace/

http://weareherecanada.ca/azraya-ackabee-kokopenace/

https://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/children-of-the-poisoned-river-mercury-poisoning-grassy-narrows-first-nation/

http://culturalsurvival.org/news/them-its-money-us-its-life-grassy-narrows-60-year-legacy-poison#:~:text=Lexx%20Paul%20sits%20on%20a,babies%20were%20born%20with%20deformities.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316376541_Proposal_to_Clean-Up_Remediate_Mercury_Pollution_in_the_English-Wabigoon_River

https://www.ontario.ca/page/ministers-five-year-report-english-and-wabigoon-rivers-remediation-funding-act-2017#:~:text=Funding%20of%20the%20remediation%20of,whether%20objectives%20have%20been%20achieved.

https://infosuperior.com/blog/2017/02/15/landmark-ontario-commits-to-mercury-cleanup/#:~:text=The%20provincial%20and%20federal%20governments,eating%20birds%2C%20mammals%20and%20people.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/2020-2021-panel-annual-report-english-and-wabigoon-rivers-remediation-trust

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2494900#:~:text=Abstract,are%20the%20preferred%20remedial%20actions.

https://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/facets-2021-0093#:~:text=The%20objective%20of%20this%20study,being%20remobilized%20and%20transported%20downstream.

https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021Facet...6.2002R/abstract#:~:text=Instead%2C%20our%20data%20suggest%20that,Lake%2C%20located%20154%20km%20downstream.