deadmonton 2005 - samantha tayleen berg
Samantha Tayleen Berg, 19, was found dead January 25th, 2005.
Case status is open and active.
Samantha Berg's body was found by two employees in a courtyard behind Stross Management Ltd. at 7829 127 Avenue. The area is normally used for parking semi-trucks and trailers.
Police said the woman found buried under the snow worked in the city's sex trade. Officials said results of toxicology tests would determine if Berg was murdered.
Police knew of Berg's whereabouts up to the end of December, 2004 but have not been able to trace her movements in January. Berg had been involved in the sex trade for several years and, according to family members, was addicted to crystal meth.
Berg was friends with Charlene Gauld and Rachel Quinney, both murdered and the subject of the RCMP-led Project KARE task force invesigations.
In December 2003, Berg supplied her personal details to Project KARE, which is investigating up to 79 cases, including 25 women in the Edmonton area, who had "high-risk lifestyles" and were found murdered or have disappeared.
As of July 18th, 2005, police said the toxicology report has been completed but investigators have not had a chance to see it. Until that is done, police were not able to determine if she was murdered.
The Project KARE task force also announced a serial killer is preying on Edmonton prostitutes and was responsible for some, but not all, of the slayings.
The task force announced a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the deaths of victims under the team's mandate.
On September 13th, 2005, the Medical Examiner’s office released its report. Initially treated as a suspicious death, police were now investigating Berg’s death as a homicide.
At the time of the release of the ME's report, Berg's death as a homicide brought 2005's murder tally up to 26.