It was something that just didn?t happen back then ? especially in a small town.
But the worst kind of crime imaginable struck the village of Standard with the abduction and murder of 15-year-old Kelly Cook.
It?s a case that captured the attention of people across the country, and nearly a quarter century later, Walter and Marion Cook have yet to give up hope the monster who took their daughter and left her dead hundreds of kilometres away will be found.
But with that hope is the resignation that after nearly 25 years, they might never know why their little girl had to die.
The predator responsible could be long-dead or even rotting away in a jail cell.
The ordeal began for the Cook family on April 22, 1981.
Kelly received a call about 8:30 a.m. from a man identifying himself as Bill Christensen ? a resident of the village 80 km east of Calgary ? who asked if the teen could babysit that evening.
She agreed and arrangements were made for the man to pick her up at the family?s Standard home.
Walter said he had just gotten home from a long day at work and was practically walking through the door when Kelly was leaving around 8:30 p.m.
?Kelly said ?Hi dad, bye dad, I?m going babysitting? and she was gone,? Walter said.
Kelly was last seen getting into a full-sized North American car, but her parents never got a look at the man who whisked her away forever.
She would never be seen alive again and within an hour, Marion knew something was amiss.
?We had a deal when Kelly was babysitting that she would phone when she got there and she never phoned,? Marion said.
?I started phoning her friends, I phoned the postmistress to ask if anyone new moved to town and I called my friend at the bank and asked her, too.?
When those calls yielded nothing, the police were called.
Meanwhile, at about 10 that night, a call was placed to an operator from a pay phone in Hussar, about 25 km away.
All the operator heard before the call was cut short was the sound of a woman or a girl screaming.
Police believe that call might very well been from Kelly.
Over the following days, dozens of police and hundreds of volunteers from across the province scoured the area around the small village.
But as each day passed, hope that Kelly would be found alive dwindled.
?Those days, I carried a shotgun around with me while we were searching, and if I?d have found him, I would have shot him,? Walter said.
Two months after Kelly?s disappearance, on June 28, the Cook family received the worst possible news ? Kelly?s clothed remains were found in the Chin Lakes Reservoir ? about 200 km southeast of Calgary.
Her body had been tied to cinder blocks and tossed into the water.
Calgary RCMP Cpl. Andy Johnson, who is the lead investigator on the file today, said when the body was found it was in an advanced state of decomposition and there was no obvious cause of death.
?My belief is that Kelly was killed shortly after the kidnapping ? she wasn?t held for very long,? Johnson said.
?I think the brazenness of the offence is what?s unique in this, I don?t think we?ve seen anything as brazen as this.?
He said it?s likely the crime was planned by a man over a two-month period, by someone who was probably living in the area at the time.
?Our basic theory is that Kelly had not been the intended target originally,? Johnson said.
In March of that year, a photo ran in a local paper of a girl from a figure skating club.
It?s believed the same man who would eventually abduct and murder Kelly Cook saw the photo and phoned the Standard school, assertively trying to get information about the girl from the principal.
The principal refused, but the man managed to find the girl?s number.
On April, 18 he phoned the girl, whom police have never identified publicly, and asked her if she could babysit.
She said no, but passed on Kelly?s name, not knowing that it would lead to her friend?s death.
The killer is about 5-ft.-10 with a medium to heavy build. He would have been between 30 and 45 years old back in 1981 and he had brown hair, a square face, wide nose and sideburns.
He was driving a medium or full-size, light-coloured North American car.
Kelly would have been 40 this year, and despite having happened so long ago, the case still generates two or three tips a year, police say.
Her parents, while they would like closure, said they have moved on from the ordeal as much as anyone can, as they had two other children to raise.
?Today, we would more or less like to know why,? Walter said.
?It?s getting up there and it?s getting harder and harder to solve ? I?m sure the guy hasn?t kept it to himself.?
? ? ? ? ?
Anyone with information about who might be responsible for the death of Kelly Cook is asked to call Cpl. Johnson at the Calgary RCMP General Investigation Section, at (403) 699-2611, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
A reward of $100,000 is offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Kelly?s killer.
Topic: Kelly Cook - Unsolved Murder \ Standard Alberta 1981 (Read 15981 times)
