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Carol Sanders
 Apr 24, 07 - 8:49 PM |
Sex Worker Found Dead In Winnipeg
WHILE most people were sitting down to Sunday dinner, sex-trade workers on the job in Winnipeg were wondering what happened to Crystal Saunders, whose body was found near St. Ambroise Thursday. "Do you know if she was working when it happened?" asked one older woman standing on a street corner by a church on Selkirk Avenue. She said the young woman looked very familiar. "I knew her," said a teenage competitor across the street who didn't want to be bothered with questions when the drivers of a half-ton truck and a minivan slowed down to stare at her. The possibility that there may be a bad john on the loose seemed to be the furthest thing from her mind. "I'm not worried," she said, running over to the curb to talk to a prospective customer. The body of Saunders, 24, was found in a shallow ditch on the north side of Beach Road near St. Ambroise, situated on Lake Manitoba. Sources have told the Free Press that Saunders was a sex-trade worker, the 18th unsolved homicide involving Winnipeg sex-trade workers or women possibly mistaken for prostitutes. A political studies professor and rights advocate wants to know if Saunders' death is linked to any of the unsolved homicides, and why no alerts have been issued. "Is there a reason to be watchful or careful?" asked Shannon Sampert. "There seems to be a pattern that goes on when it comes times to these cases," said Sampert, who took part in a Take Back the Night march in Winnipeg last September. She said many of the slain sex-trade workers were aboriginal women, often they had addictions, lived in poverty and moved a lot. "They're treated like second-rate citizens. The police don't pay attention, but it seems to come up over and over again. (Accused B.C. mass murderer Willie) Pickton is an example of this, and it's happened in Edmonton. A large number of sex-trade workers are missing and the police don't make the connection till 10 years later," said Sampert. "If this was five white lawyers' daughters missing, you can bet there'd be questions asked." Anyone with information about Saunders is asked to contact police at 786-8477 in Winnipeg or 1-800-222-8477 outside the city. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca |
Wendy
Jul 11th, 2007 - 10:27 PM |
Re: Sex Worker Found Dead In Winnipeg
Missing Alberta woman was murdered: police Updated Wed. Jul. 11 2007 9:27 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff Police have identified a missing woman as a dead Edmonton sex trade worker and are calling the death a homicide. Leanne Lori Benwell had last been seen on March 12 after visiting her mother and was reported missing in April. Connie Benwell said she knew something was wrong because her daughter didn't come back to pick up some money. The last time Connie saw her drug-addicted daughter, Leanne had a bruised and bloodied face. "Some guy had beaten her up. She had a mark right across the bridge of her nose," Connie told CTV Edmonton. Benwell's remains were found near Pigeon Lake, about 80 kilometres south of Edmonton, on June 21. RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes said the force's Project Kare task force is helping with the investigation. Project Kare is investigating the cases of about 80 sex trade workers who went missing or have been found dead in the Edmonton area. The deaths, which number about 25, go back to 1975. Oakes noted that this isn't a Project Kare case at this point. "There are no known links to any of the unsolved homicides or missing persons cases currently under investigation in the Greater Edmonton Area," he said. However, the task force does have expertise in investigating cases of people who led a high-risk lifestyle similar to Benwell's, he said. CTV Edmonton reported that while most of the Project Kare victims' bodies were found east of Edmonton, at least three have been found south of Alberta's capital city. One man, Thomas Svekla, 39, has been in custody for more than a year. He has been charged with murder in the slayings of Rachel Quinney, 19, and Theresa Innes, 36. Svekla is scheduled to go on trial in February. Police have always said they believe more than one individual committed the homicides under investigation by Project Kare. Kate Quinn of the Prostitution Action and Awareness Foundation said people shouldn't be lured into a false sense of security by one arrest. "When a person is charged with one or two murders or like Pickton in Vancouver, people go, 'well, okay, we got the one bad person'," she said. "But the fact is that violence against street-involved women is a daily and nightly fact." Police are appealing for information about Benwell's final days. With a report from CTV Edmonton's David Ewasuk and files from The Canadian Press |
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