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 home from work.
Having watched the Vancouver news, she told me a woman’s body was found in Richmond that afternoon around 1pm but there was no identity because of the condition of the body.
When Susan called me I did not know what to think. Knowing my husband had to leave for work ten minutes later, I realized I did not want to be alone. After he left, I did not know what to do. I had been flash frozen. Either I phoned Susan to ask her to come over and be with me, or she phoned me back to say she was coming over. Next thing I remember is opening the door and she was striding into the apartment. I started to cry as I hugged her. The sobs became overwhelming. Not one to be so demonstrative with friends, I think she was a bit surprised with my display of emotion but I did not care. I needed somebody. I begged her for more news details but she had very little to give. After crying on and off for a while, I eventually felt a numbness crawling through my veins, paralyzing my being.
Knowing Cindy had suffered many assaults in the past, I wondered if she had been stabbed this time.
God, I hope she didn’t suffer.
My sister was dead! Really?
Yes. Really!
Her body was found near an abandoned building with an adjacent lot “thick with tall bramble bushes” and trees, about 1.5 kilometers from the bank where police found her car after she was reported missing. Later I would learn she had deposited her paycheck at 7:58pm on the 25th of May—approximately four-and-a-half hours after picking it up from work—and the last time her whereabouts were known before her body was found. What she had done during those hours would be as mysterious as what had happened to her after depositing the money.
Yes, I lost my sister, Cindy James, suddenly, violently and mysteriously.
And today, twenty years later, I have many answers to her harassment and her mysterious death…answers never brought forth at the inquest…answers as to what she did on the afternoon of that fateful day she disappeared in May.
Yes, in my book I share my answer to the burning question: “Was she murdered, or did she commit suicide?”
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
I am so, so sorry for your loss…I can’t begin to imagine what the years and not knowing what happenned have been like for you. I did want to say, that I absolutely believe that she was murdered. I think it must have been so horrid to not be believed, when something like this is happenning to you. I base my opinion not just on reading what information is available, but on my gut, which absolutely screams out that she was murdered, and some monster is getting away with it. I went through a period of harrassment myself… things would only happen when i was alone. I told no one but my boyfriend. He would stay with me, and nothing would happen. Then when he wasn’t there, it would start up again. Luckily in my case, it stopped when we moved to another town, and started living together permanently. It is absolutely possible for a person to be harrassed/ stalked/ brutalised, and have nothing happen when others are around…espescially if one is being guarded by law enforcement! I remember reading somewhere that she had dated a police officer… was he ever looked into? Sorry to say, but just because someone works for the authorities, does NOT put them above suspiscion…just wanted to give my condolences, and say that there are people out here who believe her, and that she was definately murdered.
October 9, 2012 @ 11:29 am