a

Stone set

Local’s project gets a
start in Afghanistan and
she’ll tell her story
\COMMUNITY Bi

Highway helper
Coordinator hired to put
safety plan in place for
the Highway of Tears

\NEWS A8

Ringetie romp

Players frolic on and | |
off the ice at rip-roaring
weekend tournament _
\SPORTS B4

$1.00 PLUS 6¢ GST.
_ $1.10 plus 7¢GST
outside of the Terrace area) *

VOL.19 NO. 30

THE RCMP is s adding every unsolved

‘murder, suspicious death and suspicious.

disappearance north of Kamloops toa
~. computer database containing: informa- °
tion, on murdered and missing women
along Hwy 16.

The goal is to find out if there i is any-
‘thing j in common between any or all of
the cases that could eventually lead to an
arrest, says RCMP media relations offi-
‘cer Staff Sergeant John Ward.

14, He did not know how many new cases _
were: being added or over what period °
of time but said the new computer pro-
gram being used will enable officers to

~ sift through more. information than ever:

krust

By SARAH A . TIMMERMAN

before. “
“The decision was that now we have

people entering information into the data-

base, we should see what else is out there
and group them together,” Ward said. .
' “You could characterize it.as an ex-

‘panded investigation but it is more of a. ‘
review of files using. new technology to”

see if there is a commonality.” he said.
“Tt certainly: will be comprehensive,”

Ward added of the new effort.

Ward said the new files being added

' and non- parental abductions or attempted
~ abductions. .
.. Information is entered into: ViCLAS -
standardized «questionnaire,

. using. a
“which then allows investigators to search

‘to the Hwyl6 database come in many :

forms, some of which are already in‘an
existing sophisticated database called the

Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System .

oO,

ALL OF the Terrace ‘Lumber Company’ s (TLC) directors,

except for. chairman John Ryan, have resigned and the com-
pany has taken the first step toward bankruptcy proceedings
by filing what is known as a notice of intention.

The notice essentially puts the freeze on any potential le-
gal action by creditors until the company and bankruptcy
trustee Larry Prentice of Ernst and Young, are able to come
_ up with a repayment plan. ,

- According to a document sent to each of the company’s
creditors last week, TLC owes at least $11.8 million, not
. including up to $2.044 million owed in severance pay to its
unionized workforce and another $781,137.in property taxes
‘to the City of Terrace. That means the potential debt load. .

-could reach in excess of $14.5 million.

. By filing the notice, the company buys itself time to come
up with a repayment plan, says Larry Prentice.

- Cont'd Page Al 5

Pere eee *

SLO A ene ett

week.

By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN .

(ViCLAS).

It contains - information on aation-

wide solved or unsolved homicides and
attempted homicides, solved or unsolved
sexual assaults, suspicious missing per-
sons cases, still unidentified bodies where
‘homicide is-either known, or suspected

for links using key words or a combina-
tion of key words.

“It’s not just ViCLAS. It’s any other . ,
files not entered. i into ViCLAS, ” ‘said

as local firm Bold Salvage for ultra low | prices,

) "Wednesday,

Ward of the total cases reaching north of

; Kamloops. bea 0 :
Ward cautioned that people should not
assume RCMP have never befGre looked .”

for connections into missing persons cas-
es or unsolved murders.

Investigators always talk among | them-
selves and review cases, he added...

“Policing evolves as a science and we

can keep on going back and looking,”

Ward said of new: technology such as the ©

database now being expanded.
In and by. itself, the RCMP’s Hwy16

- list. of missing and’ murdered_ women —

contains nine names, . beginning ° ‘with

Monica Ignas,, who disappeared outside: wl

. : coe _

official. “It’s a buyer’s auction,”

ing Tea s $ prob De

of Terrace in 1974 to Tamara Chipman, a

Terrace resident who was last seen hitch-'
‘hiking outside of Prince. Rupert in,Sep-
tember 2005. The‘nine cases reach from
Prince Rupert to Prince George and that. .- .
-. stretch has. now. been dubbed -the-High-- --
way of Tears by: relatives and others who -

fear there is a serial killer or killers, at
work preying on young women.

‘RCMP first announced amajor review.

of the cases this spring at a Prince George

third such review over the years,

Cont'd Page A A2-

KEVIN GODDARD and Bill Leffers look over some of the Terrace Lumber Company equipinient that went v up for auction. over two days last

Bo SARAH. A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

\uction 1 fetches low prices

said business-

a She’ sa ‘keeper
OCT. 28 marked the year’s last Farmers Market
and the last one with Doris Scott as its gatekeep-

er. To honour her 12 years of service, she is feted.
- with a basket containing products from various
vendors. DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO

IT TOOK two very long days but the auction to

sell off.the assets of the Terrace Lumber Com-
pany sawmill is.over.

’ Hundreds of people visited the mill site’ Oct.
25 and 26 as auctioneers from Maynard’s sold off

‘every last piece of equipment and rolling stock.
right down to the steel catwalks that weave their

way throughout the mill:
It was a tough crowd though, and prices fetched
throughout the auction were low.
“They’re just dreadful aren’t.they?” said John

Ryan, the only director left on the board of the |

company. He attended the auction along with a

number of other investors in the company, such
"as Mo Takhar and Gerry Martin. \

Much of the equipment and heavy metal items

were purchased by scrap metal businesses, such

Being named gave woman credibility

The sawmill: building itself ‘sold for just

$20,000...
* At one point on the: first day, auctioneer Jay

‘Scott passed over pieces that would be sold for |
_ scrap after growing frustrated with the low. offers .,

from the floor.

Fork lifts, which at other: times might have.

fetched as much as $75,000, went for between

$20,000 and $45,000; A machine hoist,. which
would retail at-well over $600, went for $50 ‘and.

computer ‘monitors: ina control booth. sold for, a
~ assets was not readily available last week. -

. “This is the worst outcome . that. could: have

$200.
At times, with 1 no offers from: the floor, items

“were passed over by auctioneers. Even the few

logs left over, which could be used at:a small

~ sawmill or even as fire wood, didn’t get an offer. .
_ Any items that were passed.on could be bid. -
on at the énd of the auction, said one Maynard’s

‘man Lloyd. Hull, who attended the sale. “The way: - |
the prices are going, the investors won't get any- |

thing.”.

pany did not get a written guarantee ftom May-
nard’s and. speculation i is widespread. that the sale

: total didn’t reach that level.

The Terrace Lumber Company owes in excess.
of $14.5 million in debts to. dozens of businesses.
“and i individuals. It was hoped the auction would
- fetch in the range of $2.5 million, but {the com-

" symposium held to discuss what needs to:
“be done to prevent more women from | go-
“ing missing and being’ murdered. It’s the

tee
ws

“A final figure from the mill’s auction. and i its 7 7 8

happened: as far as I’m concemed,” said Hull.
“It’s a modern facility. It's too bad.” _
. In the meantime, Terrace Mayor Jack Talstra

is disappointed the mill went on the block. For ;
' that story, please see page Al6. :

. comments about the victims and i in. part

By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN

A LOCAL woman asked to have her.
name revealed in a high profile Vancou-

ver sex crimes case because she felt she
had no credibility in anonymity.
Denise Tupman is one of 12 alleged

victims of Tom Ellison, a former Van- ..

couver high school teacher who is on
trial for 16 counts of sexual misconduct
relating to sexual relationships he had
with students between 1972 and 1993

an
a

_when the girls were between the ages of
- 15 and 18. ;

It’s standard procedure for courts to
place a ban on publishing the names of.
victims in sex crimes cases to protect

‘their identity.

Tupman is one of three women who
testified against Ellison who requested
the ban be lifted so they could freely
speak to the allegations and the case.

“T feel like ’'m hiding behind my ano-.
nymity and there is no credibility in being

oc

anonymous,” Tupman said last week.
Before the publication ban was lifted,
Tupman was identified only as Complain-

‘ant Number 3, and that made her feel as |

though she was just one of a number of
anonymous people making the allega-
tions.

“It would put a human face on this tes-
timony,” she said. With her name known,
Tupman hoped to add credence to her
story and those of the other victims be-
cause it drives home that these incidents

happeaed to real people. ee
“I felt I had to do it, I had rio choice,”

‘she says of coming forward: “T did not do. .
this for the attention — the attention is em:

barrassing.”
Having her name known i in the Lower

Mainland, where the ongoing court case:

has dominated the news, is easier than be-
ing exposed.in her hometown, ‘she adds.

She made the request to lift the pub- -

lication ban on her name after an ex-
Prince of Wales teacher made negative
oe oe
YX

’. blamed them for-what happened.

*“T was angry and when I'm, -angry
I write good letters,” she said, adding
that’s when she contacted a Lower Main-:

» land daily newspaper to tell her side of |
‘the story.

All: of the: complainants are former
students in what was formerly known as
the Quest program at Vancouver’s Prince
of Wales Secondary School.

Coni’d Page A2