Edmonton
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Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
File: Unsolved Murder of Leanne Benwell
Status: UNSOLVED
Contributor: Brian J.
File Number: 1040200039
Leanne Benwell, 27, was reported missing in April 2007 after her mother, Connie, hadn't spoken to her for over a month. The Salt River First Nation woman's body was found in a remote area in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, on June 21, 2007.
Unsolved Cases in town/city of Edmonton
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Leanne Lori Benwell
BODY FOUND NEAR WATASKIWIN
UCF #104200039Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
File: Unsolved Murder of Leanne Benwell
Status: UNSOLVED
Contributor: Brian J.
File Number: 1040200039
Leanne Benwell, 27, was reported missing in April 2007 after her mother, Connie, hadn't spoken to her for over a month. The Salt River First Nation woman's body was found in a remote area in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, on June 21, 2007.
Edmonton RCMP closed the case five years later, after a medical examiner determined her death was not criminal in nature, according to her mother, who strongly rejects that conclusion. "My daughter wouldn't just go and lay down in some farmer's field and die like that. That's stupid" she said, adding that she believes her daughter met with foul play.
An RCMP task force that is looking into the disappearances or deaths of almost 80 people, many of them women in the sex trade, is helping with the investigation, Corporal Wayne Oakes said.
A cause of death for Ms. Benwell has not been released, although the case is being treated as a homicide.