Kelly Cook - Unsolved Murder \ Standard Alberta 1981

[Chris]

Note! There has been an update in this case. It is rumored a man in Warner Alberta may have been a suspect in this murder. He was murdered himself in 1991 at New Dayton Alberta. Please if anyone knows more about this, please register and post it here, or use the contact form above to send us a message. Thanks.




Name: Kelly Jane Evelyn COOK

Location: Standard, Alberta (AB)

Details: Kelly Jane Evelyn COOK, a 15 year-old female, lived with her parents in the village of Standard, Alberta, which is located 70 kilometers northeast of Calgary, Alberta.

On April 22, 1981, at 8:20 A.M., Kelly received a phone call from a man identifying himself as Bill CHRISTENSEN. The caller asked if she would babysit that evening. Kelly agreed and arrangements were made for the caller to pick up Kelly at her residence.

At 8:30 P.M., a full-sized North American car pulled up in front of the COOK?s residence. The unidentified male and Kelly were last seen departing the residence. Kelly was not seen alive again. Her body was discovered in the Chin Lake Reservoir (east of Lethbridge, Alberta) on June 28, 1981.

It is believed that the perpetrator of this crime had planned the abduction over a one or two-month period.

A one hundred thousand dollar reward ($100,000.00) from the Village of Standard is offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator of this crime.

If you have any information about this case, please contact Cpl. Andrew JOHNSON, Calgary RCMP General Investigation Section at (403)-699-2611 or Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477.

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cold_case/cook_kelly_e.htm

Here is a sketch of the suspect
Here is a sketch of the suspect: (There is word a suspect was known in Warner Alberta, but has since been murdered himself. If anyone can add to that or confirm, please let us know.)

He was 30 - 40 years old.
ABout 5 foot 10 inches and 160 pounds
Medium to heavy build
Round face with swarthy complexion
Hands and face were weather beaten
Clean shaven, short fark hair
Had a blue windbreaker with possible complay logo or emblem on it.
Driving a 1978 or newer (remember, this is 1981) Chysler or GMC full size, light color, possibly pale with Alberta plates.

[Desespere]

This one bothers me a lot because it shows the guy was travelling south. It also shows the guy had likely been planning the abduction for a couple of months. He probably used a fake name. I've read in different places in the states that a full size car was also seen, usually dark blue or possibly black.

Easter was the 19th of April, three days before her abduction. In that decade, kids were off school over Easter, two weeks or so, not like spring break now. If the guy got to know her under the ruse of babysitting, he may have shown her pictures of his kid or kids, or pictures of some kids anyway.

The chin reservoir (where she was recovered) is near Taber, AB. There are two others in US that were found near reservoir's. One in Pueblo, CO. This 34 year old cosmetologist and mother was beaten, torchured, dismembered and found on both sides of the reservoir. The other one, found on November 4, 1994 in wooded area of Berlin Reservoir in Akron, OH (HWY I-80) was a 14 year old girl last seen in Rochester, PA July 13, 1994 on the way to a friend's.

Gotta go.. more later

[Chris]

I think the RCMP 'know' who did this. From reading the cold case article in 2005, they seemed to imply that a person was questioned but no proof was found. For this to be planned for months does also seem like the person must have known her.

[Desespere]

I can see that it might look like the person knew Kelly, but I don't think the RCMP know who this Bill Christensen is, IMO.

I say this because it says an "unidentified male" pulled up to Kelly's house. The person may have talked to Kelly, found out she was a babysitter and used that as a reason to call, but I do not personally believe that he lived in Standard at the time.

There are not very many details yet they are offering a $100,000 reward. To me it's less likely the police know who it is.

Also the fact the guy drove 200 km to leave Kelly's body at the reservoir shows me he was likely travelling, going south to the US border almost.

Standard is an hour directly east of Calgary, using Hwy. 840. Taber is 6-1/2 hours east of Regina, SK which is almost 4 hours directly north of Williston, ND, where  Barbara Cotton went missing 11 days earlier, on a Saturday before Easter. She was the same age as Kelly Cook.

Barbara Cotton
During the evening of April 11, 1981, 15 year old Barbara Louise Cotton disappeared in Williston, North Dakota.
Anyone with information regarding the disappearance of Barbara Cotton is asked to contact the Williston Police Department at 701-577-1212, or the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation at 1-800-472-2185 or 701-328-5500.
Williston is 50 miles south west of Tioga on direct route and half way to Sidney Montana

Appears no other unsolved homicides in North Dakota in the 1980?s except for the death of an old man, aged 69 in same year.

After Kelly, Barbara Stroppel, age 16, was killed at her work in a donut shop on December 23, 1981 (Christmas)

This link has details.
http://www.winnipeg.ca/police/Unsolved_Cases/Homicides/1981_stoppel.stm

The male seen leaving the donut shop was variously described as being a white male, 21-30 years old, brown hair, scruffy looking, scraggly sideburns, poor complexion with some noticeable acne pimples or pock marks on the left side of his face, brown mustache, tall, slim build, wearing prescription glasses, a dark brown or black cowboy hat, a dark coloured waist length coat, blue jeans and round toed or cowboy boots.

A man was charged and had three trials and was finally exhonerated in 2000 and a final report released in 2005 which recommended changes to Winnipeg policing service. This case is unsolved and has been getting more publicity lately.

Update - I found this at a blog. Apparently Terry Arnold, 41 killed himself in 2005 and was an early suspect in Barbara Stroppel's murder. While this murder is still listed as unsolved on Winnipeg police website, it may be this guy was the killer. The link has numerous articles regarding Terry Arnold and his connection to Barbara Stroppel. This murder does not appear to have anything to do with any other murder.

http://www.injusticebusters.com/05/Arnold_Terry.shtml



P.S. edits are to add information

[Chris]

The weird thing about Standard is that it is not a route anyone would use unless you needed to be in the area. North is Rosebud and south is highway #1. It is not a shortcut to anything, it's not a town you just pass thru. Maybe I will send an e-mail to the village of standards website and see if anyone can give more details.
Chin resevoir does seem like a place in which a person driving down highway 3 would use to make a quite dump while heading to thier next destination. Is that close to the hamlet of Chin?

[Desespere]

Yes, it is close to Chin, and Chin is about 25 km from Taber, a bigger town.

Taber is 50km east of Lethbridge and 100 km west of Medicine Hat.

That would be great if you contacted Standard to see if there are any updates or more info!!

[Chris]

I sent a note asking for more info. I hope to hear back after Easter.

[Chris]

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.

[Chris]

Notice on the article I posted above that a man whom the police know, had asked about baby sitting and that female passed on Kelly's name to that man to babysite. I am certain this person had to have been a suspect. I wrote to the town of Standard but no one e-mailed, called or wrote me back.

I hope that with advances in DNA and stuff that more info will become available. Calling from a payphone in Hussar is strange. I bet the person must have gotton out to get gas or something and she ran out???

I wish we had more info, for some reason this case in particular is very troubling to me and I find myself thinking about it often. The killer is still out there.

[Desespere]

ON this site, the writer includes Kelly's murder in the Canada Highway murders, or the Trans-Canada murders

http://www.crimezzz.net/serialkillers/C/CANADA_HIGHWAY_murders.php

[kindheart]

This is some photos of where Kelly cooks remains were located two months later.

[andy m]

I was in high school when this happened. I have never forgotten Kelly and as my life evolves like my marriage my daughters birth her now attending the UofA I find myself thinking of Kelly Cook and all that this son of a bitch stole from her. This animal needs to pay for the life he took. To her Mother and Father my deepest sympathy. I am very happy to see you are still pursueing her killer.

This guy is still out there. From what i read about serial killers they tend to hunt their prey using the same MO. So there should be a history of similar crimes. I dont believe this guy new Kelly at all. He found someones name in a laundry mat advertising for a babysitter and that lucky person was busy but, she passed on the her friends Kelly's number. Its bizarre that he used such a remote small town and in tune an even remoter dump site. I think a closer look at traveling salesmen perhaps in the farm and agriculture sales needs to be investigated. This person would have traveled the area and would know these remote areas having visited them during normal business. Wasnt her murdur during the planting season? Another path look into any oil patch workers someone traveling home after spring break up. I really dont like this theory too much considering oil patch workers almost exclusively use trucks. This guy was too fluid he has done this before and he wasnt from the area. No one goes unnoticed in a small town. When i was very small i lived in the community of Delacour and my family knew everyone in the community. Is there someway one can email all the different police departments and see if they have any unsolved or similar murders in their area. Some how i just know if we could find a way to map out this guys movement and progression he could be caught and destroyed.

[Desespere]

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's parents said they didn't see the man who whisked their daughter away forever, yet there is a description of him in the article. I wonder how the police etc. got the description?

Andy M!! Hello, welcome. Similar cases listed below

Mar 9, 1959 - Toronto, ON - Patricia Lupton, 12, posted a notice at a grocery store with two friends advertising their babysitting services. Patricia was called after friends said no. She met the person and within one hour had been murdered. This is the link to her record on Unsolved:
http://www.unsolvedcanada.ca/index.php/topic,728.0.html
Apr 22, 1981 - Standard, AB - Kelly Cook, 15, accepted babysitting offer after friend said no. Was found murdered at Chin Lake Reservoir.
Oct 13, 1983 - London, ON - Donna Awcock, 17, was last seen leaving a store at her Cheyenne Ave. apt. She was found murdered 15m down embankment overlooking Fanshawe Dam/Reservoir
http://www.unsolvedcanada.ca/index.php/topic,692.0.html

BUT: If we add in cases from the States there are many more reservoir/dam cases and three cases where the person was last seen babysitting.
These are states bordering Ontario and Quebec, and cities in states near the border of MB, SK, AB, and BC. I don't have many Washington State recorded in my database yet.

[Chris]

Hi andy m,

There are no simular cases like this anywhere except in Ontario where someone use a ruse like that to lure a young female. I get the impression the police already know who, but are short of proof. The Calgary Sun had a write about this back in 05 and it seemed to give me that impression.

1981 was a bad year for Oil, the Feds pretty much shut everything down. Lots of people got jobs in the USA so at one time it was theorized that the person was heading south (to uSA maybe) since the body was found near Lethbridge.

I'd think the person who did this lived very close by. Afterall, Kelly did manage to get out and make a phone call from a payphone in the village of Hussar. I would guess this is where he lived.

[Desespere]

There's also the possible link to Barbara Cotton missing from North Dakota, where I understand at that time there were also people from Alberta working in the oil industry in North Dakota. Some may have worked in both Alberta and North Dakota

Missing April 11, 1981 - 15 year-old Barbara Cotton from Williston, ND. Last seen leaving a restaurant on Main Street in her hometown.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cotton_barbara.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/566uftn.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3ufmt.html