It is far from unusual for police forces to use social media in an attempt to find a suspect wanted in a major crime. On Oct. 16, the Manitoba RCMP devoted their Twitter and Facebook accounts to try and solve the rape and murder of Kellie that occurred exactly 30 years before. What was different with yesterday’s posts was the RCMP used the voice of the dead teen to recount her background and what she did on the last day of her young life.
According to the RCMP, Kerrie went to a party on Oct. 16, 1986 and had planned to spend the night at her friend Nicole’s house. Kerrie’s former boyfriend showed up with another girl and Kerrie wanted to leave. So she and Nicole went outside. But Nicole forgot something and returned to the house. When she came out again, Kerrie was gone.
Two days after Kerrie was last seen alive, two horseback riders found her body near some stables. She had been brutally murdered and sexually assaulted. An arrest was soon made but a first-degree murder charge against the accused was thrown out after a three-day preliminary hearing in February 1987. Kerrie’s father, (her mother died in 2002) does not believe that person committed the crime and that the killer is still out there.
The series of social media posts in Kellie’s voice contains not only what she did on the last day she was alive but she pleads for anyone who knows something to contact the RCMP. She says someone out there “knows who did this to me” and said people who know something cannot assume the RCMP knows too. The tweets are interspersed with photographs of Kellie, her home, places around town she visited as well as newspaper clippings of her obituary and a newspaper article announcing her body has been found.
The first tweet read, “Ok, for people who don’t know my story, my last day alive was 30 years ago. It was 1986 and it was a Thursday.” The tweets then go on to detail what she did on that day.
“I was raped, beaten & murdered around this time exactly 30 years ago & someone out there knows who did this to me.” rcmpmb kerrie
— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) October 17, 2016
“There was a party that night and mom & dad said I could stay at my girlfriend’s house for a sleepover after.” rcmpmb kerrie
— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) October 16, 2016
“We ate supper together as a family that night, my last night alive. I am so thankful for that. I know they are too.” rcmpmb kerrie WqcP0GloFf
— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) October 16, 2016
On Oct. 16, the Manitoba RCMP changed the logo on their social media pages, replacing it with a photograph of Kellie.
