What was and is the impact on you and the family on the mystery surrounding her death, and the publicity surrounding the tragedy? ~Ken MacQueen, Maclean’s magazine (question to Melanie Hack) For privacy reasons, I can only speak about myself. And for me it never goes away. It’s something I live with. I am also […]

People who knew her always felt she was holding information back. If it was true, why do you think she did that? ~Ken MacQueen, Maclean’s magazine (question to Melanie Hack) Cindy was scared.  She was being attacked and harassed and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.  During one attack, they mentioned going […]

Did you know during those years before her death the true extent of the torture she was going through? ~Ken MacQueen, Maclean’s magazine (question to Melanie Hack) No. I had not known just how much pain she was enduring at the time it was happening. Over the years I was only given enough sketchy details […]

What inspired you to explore the circumstances of your sister’s death all these years later? ~Ken MacQueen, Maclean’s magazine (question to Melanie Hack) I had no closure after the inquest…the verdict was undetermined. I was deep in grief and needed an answer. I realized not all of the facts had been presented at the inquest—and […]

Today the murder case of six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey is considered “open,” but it’s a cold case, meaning there’s no active investigation. Gee that sounds familiar! – Like Cindy’s case? Oh wait. Cindy’s case was surreptitiously closed…but was supposed to remain open according to the findings of the 1990 inquest! Previously sealed court documents were released […]

If I had a career do-over I think I’d go to Crime Scene University and study forensic science. I recently watched a TV show on the Investigation Discovery channel and it took me right back to the days when I was researching for my book Who Killed My Sister, My Friend – entomological evidence, processing […]

During the process of grief, you are bombarded with many stressful situations, feelings and thoughts that continually test your inner strength. You may deal with one matter only to find yourself facing another. Thus, anger can compound as well as seem to spring up anew. It can be frightening. You may be surprised at its […]

A woman recently wrote to me and shared the story of her younger sister’s death…a sister 16 years younger than herself. The police have one theory of what happened to her sister—suicide, an overdose. She has another theory. The FBI is investigating. She asks me, “How did you do it?” Because many of you who […]

My husband and I recently went on an amazing date/adventure to Kaslo, B.C. where we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the newly renovated hotel on Front Street, did a wonderful hike on the Kaslo River Trail, took in breathtaking views, did some window-shopping…just had a phenomenal time. But it was on the way to Kaslo […]

When Cindy’s body was found on this day in 1989, I went into deep shock. It was my friend Susan who told me that Cindy’s body had been found…when she saw the news on TV, exactly two weeks after Cindy’s disappearance: At 7:30pm on June 8, 1989, my friend Susan phoned me when I got […]