deadmonton 2007 - other police matters - Norma Jane McNeil - found floating in river

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Strathcona County RCMP investigated the discovery of a body in the North Saskatchewan River.


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At approximately 4:35 p.m. on July 1st, 2007 a group of boaters discovered the body floating in the river just north of Township Road 560, approximately 15 kilometres downstream from Fort Saskatchewan.


The body was found near a small island in the middle of the river. The group immediately called 911 and were able to bring the body to the east shore just south of Township Road 562.


Police first only identified the victim as a 44-year-old female from Edmonton, but withheld her name until next of kin had been notified. The woman was only wearing a t-shirt and underwear.


After the body was removed from the scene it was transported to the medical examiner's office where an autopsy was scheduled to be conducted on July 4th.


Members of the Strathcona County RCMP and the RCMP Forensic Identification Section investigated the death they termed at the time as "suspicious."


Police said they did not rule out foul play and Project KARE was not notified.


A victim services unit was brought in to help the boaters who discovered the body.



On July 3rd, authorities identified the woman as Norma Jane McNeil and asked anyone who had recent contact with her to call the Strathcona County RCMP.


Const. Darren Anderson said Project KARE was notified but was no longer involved, seeming to contradict earlier reports.


It was reported investigators were still trying to determine what McNeil was doing in the hours before her death.


"We're still learning lots about her. That's what the investigators are doing today," Anderson said.


A relative of McNeil's told 630 CHED Radio the woman had recently been living in a house frequented by drug users.



On July 4th an autopsy on the body of Norma Jane McNeil was completed.


As a result of the autopsy and the investigation conducted by the Strathcona County RCMP, the death was considered as non-criminal.


No further details were released and the matter was deemed closed.



A story published in the Edmonton Sun on July 5th revealed that Norma Jane McNeil was a mother of two who fought a losing battle against alcohol, drugs and depression.


In an interview with Norma's brother, 41-year-old Tom McNeil, it was reported the women recently sought treatment but suffered a relapse.


"She completed a year of alcohol rehab through the Salvation Army's adult rehabilitation centre and was doing great, but then she fell in with a guy who used drugs and things went downhill."


"She started drinking again," the woman's brother told the Sun.


"She'd been living in a crack house near 163 Avenue and 97 Street for a while and I was worried about her. I reported the address of the house to the police ... now it's too late."


Tom said he was convinced his sister was pushed into taking hard drugs which may have resulted her giving up her sons Jimmy, 6, and David, 8.


After Norma's death, the boys went to reside with their father with whom she had a 10-year relationship. The couple had separated a year-and-a-half before she was pulled from the river.


Tom suspected his sister may have been given drugs and was awaiting the results of a toxicology report.




The discovery of the woman's body in the river prompted the Edmonton Sun to contact outspoken local sex-trade advocate Carol-Lynn Strachan.


In a story published July 2nd, the Sun revisited the case of the body found west of Wetaskiwin on June 21st (later identified as Leanne Lori Benwell).


That neither woman had been identified or excluded as being a prostitute kept women working Edmonton streets on edge, according to Strachan.


“I just sit on pins and needles and wait,” the sex-trade worker told the Sun.


“I can't imagine what the parents or children [of missing women] are going through. Why haven't we been told who these women are?”


The Sun also revealed at least four high-risk women have gone missing from the streets of Edmonton since March 2007.


The report came from a source who receives periodic bulletins from Project KARE which are labelled not for media release.


Project KARE spokesman Cst. Tamara Bellamy told the Sun that not all women who appear on the KARE bulletins are suspected victims of foul play.


It could just be that someone is trying to reach the woman, for example, to inform her of the death of a family member, said Bellamy, adding that once a high-risk person is reported missing, KARE gets involved “immediately.”


“We assist them by going through our databases and having our proactive team go out and make checks on the street. We have a cache of information.”


In May 2007, Edmonton police and Project KARE appealed to the public for help in locating Edmonton-area sex trade worker Leanne Lori Benwell.


27-year-old Benwell was last seen by her mother on March 12th and was reported missing April 15th and there were no reports if she had been spotted in spite of a widespread media profile.


RCMP indicated they were waiting for results of further forensic testing in the Wetaskiwin case, which they were treating as a homicide, before they were able to release the identity of the woman found.


On July 11th, 2007 RCMP identified Benwell as the body found in central Alberta.