Canada: Teen hit by three cars, no one stopped

The Toronto Star ^ | January 4, 2006

[Stoat]

Giving credit where it's due....I found this article because it was linked at OrbusMax

Orbusmax ™ Northwest News - 'Around The World In 80K'

[b4its2late]

So sad. Terrible tragedy.

But they drive so darn fast through Upstate New York on their way south, I could see them not even noticing a thump in the road.

[Alberta's Child]

When I lived in Calgary a month couldn't go by without some strange happenings out in Morley, Alberta.

Morley is located along the Bow River Valley in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, and the backdrop of the area is stunning. Much of the area lies within the Morley Native Reserve, which had been the site of numerous crimes, strange murder/suicides, etc. back a few years ago.

Based on her name, it sounds like this girl lived on the reserve, too.

[Stoat]

Cochrane Times, Cochrane, AB

Morley mourns 16-year-old hit and run victim
Human remains discovered on Highway 1 west of Cochrane New Year’s Day have been identified as the body of Brittany Bearspaw, a 16-year-old girl from Morley.

Angela Anderson
Wednesday January 04, 2006Cochrane Times — After interviewing family and friends of the teen, RCMP determined the teen was walking home from a party along the highway at around 7 a.m. when at least one vehicle hit her and did not stop to help her, but drove off.
“At this time, we’re treating it as a hit and run and we are actively looking for the vehicle that was involved,” said Cpl. Roger Waidson of the Cochrane RCMP.
Another man who was also walking home along Hwy. 1 a short distance away told cops he saw at least three vehicles hit the teen just west of Cochrane near exit 131.
“He saw brake lights and someone manoeuvre around something and was expecting to see an animal on the road,” Waidson said.
The 23-year-old man got closer and saw a body in the westbound lanes. He stayed on the shoulder and tried to flag down motorists with his flashlight, to no avail.
At 7:35 a.m. another passer by notified the detachment, reporting they had seen the body of the deceased laying in the westbound lane of the highway.
RCMP are hopeful that more witnesses may come forward to help identify the vehicle that hit Bearspaw, as the highway was likely busy at the time of the incident.
“Highway 1 is busy 24 hours a day. That day was a holiday, it was sunny, and a Sunday. Dozens of cars went by as we got to the scene,” Waidson observed, adding that much of the traffic at that time would have been ski traffic.
Waidson said officers are in Morley thoroughly interviewing friends and family to determine the remaining details surrounding Bearspaw’s death.
Bearspaw was an avid student, with dreams of becoming a lawyer, and her family is completely devastated by the incident, and is left asking why none of the drivers who hit Bearspaw stopped to help their daughter.
In an interview with a Calgary news source, John Sebo, Bearspaw’s father said, “That’s the part that really gets to us. How can you not feel running over a person?”
He said he and other family members returned to the spot on the highway his daughter was hit and collected clothing and anything else they could find.
All the belongings they found at the site will be buried with Bearspaw, helping to release her spirit to the heavens, Sebo said.
“What I want is closure. I want these people to know what they’ve taken from us,” he said.
If anyone was traveling on Hwy. 1 near exit 131, the Morley exit between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Jan. 1 who may have seen anything suspicious or that may help this investigation, they are asked to call the Cochrane RCMP at 932-2213.

[basil]

This is a tragic story. What caught my eye, though, is that the family went back to the scene and collected parts from autos that "Had run over her". HUH! I should think that the police would have collected this stuff as evidence to use in catching the people who ran over her.

[Alberta's Child]

Ping.

[DoughtyOne]

I thought Canada was full of leftists who care a lot more for humans than those non-caring conservatives...

Course two out of three cars could have been from the U.S. Heh heh heh...

[Stoat]

I should think that the police would have collected this stuff as evidence to use in catching the people who ran over her.

Agreed, very strange.  My father was a policeman back in the "old days" and it was common practice to take paint samples off of cars to help identify the other impacting vehicle, even if there wasn't a fatality involved.

I'm astonished that the whole section of roadway wasn't closed down immediately and the entire area gone over with a fine-tooth comb in an effort to find evidence.

I'm an EMS worker here in the USA, and I'm accustomed to parking my rig far enough away to avoid any chance of disturbing a potential crime scene investigation, even if no fatality is involved.

It's quite baffling to me as to why the RCMP avoided doing what I consider to be an extremely basic and time-proven bit of police work.

 

[Victoria Delsoul]

This is horrible.

Much of the area lies within the Morley Native Reserve, which had been the site of numerous crimes, strange murder/suicides, etc. back a few years ago.

Well, natives are famous for drinking a lot. What a heartless thing to do though.

[Alberta's Child]

Here are a few images from the area . . .

McDougall Church, Morley, Alberta (note the peaks of the Canadian Rockies in the background)

The Morley Flat in the Alberta foothills, with Mount Yamnuska in the background

[Mrs. Shawnlaw]

I thought the Canadians loved each other more than we Americans love each other? Or is that just when shooting is involved?

This is terrible. Remains. Ugh. And so young too.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Nice, a bit isolated, though.

[Capriole]

the teen was walking home from a party along the highway at around 7 a.m.

No one seems to have noticed or commented on this staggering piece of information. The parent(s) of a sixteen-year-old girl let her stay out all night at a party and then walk home alone? Interesting attitude toward parenting. They can cry and say they're grieved at her death, but they have some responsibility in it.

[Alberta's Child]

It looks that way in the photos, but it's not as remote as it seems. It's an empty area because it's inside the reserve, but it's only about a 40-minute drive from there to downtown Calgary and a 40-minute drive to the resort town of Banff in the Rockies.

[Victoria Delsoul]

I see.

[Alberta's Child]

I was driving out along that stretch of road on my way to a meeting in Canmore (east of Banff) a few years ago, and got caught in a late spring snowstorm right near the place where the sign in the lower photo is located.

There's a gravel road running parallel to the Trans-Canada Highway in that area, and as I drove through the blinding snow in a mild panic when I came upon a strange scene. I could see a pickup truck driving pretty fast along the parallel road through deep snow drifts. A couple of natives from the Morley reserve were standing in the back of it yelling out at something behind the truck, and when I looked back I could see another guy who was being towed behind on a pair of skis. I've never seen anything like that. LOL.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Pretty wild I might add, lol.

[familyop]

Indians are generally disliked, publicly defamed, kept out of work and away from other people in Canada. It's not like the USA now at all, where a great number of our population are part Indian and away from reservations.

[Stoat]

Indians are generally disliked, publicly defamed, kept out of work and away from other people in Canada. It's not like the USA now at all, where a great number of our population are part Indian and away from reservations.
 

That's very sad, I had no idea.  Do you think that this attitude would manifest itself in literally hundreds of drivers driving past an Indian GIRL'S body on the highway without even bothering to stop? (I bolded her gender because I am of that old, discredited school that believes women are the Crown of Creation and the Light of the Universe, and deserve every possible bit of adoration and respect at all times)

Do you think that it would also manifest itself in the RCMP officers doing what appears to be a breathtakingly substandard and unprofessional "investigation" of the crime scene?

Sorry if I seem naive about Canada.....I've made it a point to avoid visiting Canada for a great many years because it seems that many of Canada's people and Government officials have not been terribly congenial toward us Yanks.

[bboop]

Thanks for the nice (pro-fem) thought. We appreciate you guys too.