Kathy Wilson
Posted on 01/09/2009 12:25:04 PM PST by nickcarraway
Homicide maps Kirkland Lake search never turned up body of 12-year-old
Aline Wilson never gave up hope that one day she would find out what happened to her daughter.
Kathy Wilson went missing Oct. 20, 1970, on the outskirts of Kirkland Lake. The skinny, curly-haired 12-year-old had made the kilometre and a bit walk into town to buy groceries. But she never returned.
More than 300 volunteers in the small Ontario mining town searched the area woods and swamps for weeks. Police combed the countryside with dogs, helicopters and boats, but they never found her body.
Several witnesses reported seeing a suspicious pickup truck around the time she went missing. But as the leads dried up, the girl's disappearance slipped into cold case status.
Then a break in the case two years ago put investigators back on the trail. On Tuesday, Ontario Provincial Police arrested Barry Manion, Kathy's second cousin, and charged the now 60-year-old with first-degree murder and abduction of a child.
It was news Wilson had been waiting nearly 40 years to hear.
"I was excited. Relieved. I jumped for the ceiling," Wilson said last night.
"There's some closure. I'm relieved in one way, but there are still questions. We still don't know what happened."
Det. Insp. Ken Leppert wouldn't comment on what pointed police towards Manion, but said there have been several developments since the case was reopened in 2006.
Manion's lawyer, Aaron Harnett, said it was too early to comment about the case, but said the arrest has been hard on the Manion family.
"The family feels like a bomb has been blown up underneath them and they love their father and they're very supportive," he said.
Manion is in custody and will appear in Haileybury court on Tuesday. Three months ago, the OPP issued a $50,000 reward for information leading to Kathy's whereabouts.
Leppert said that money has not been paid out and he has no reason to believe it will be.
The detective added that efforts would soon begin to recover Wilson's remains.
Family members have always believed they know who killed Kathy. A website dedicated in her honour reads:
"Kathy, we miss you. We will never forget you. We know the truth, and we will never give up until the truth is revealed and you're brought home to our loving arms."
Kathy Wilson
Poor innocent baby! Maybe now she can rest in peace.
Shame on the family members who may have heard the killer’s confession and never reported him to the authorities.
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