IHIT investigators were on Bowen Island over the weekend after a documentary crew searching for evidence in the 2009 disappearance of Jodi Henrickson discovered possible evidence. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) confirmed that the film crew had contacted them.
“The documentary crew had searched on Bowen Island in hopes of potentially locating evidence related to her disappearance. As a result of their search, the film crew contacted IHIT to report what they believed to be potential evidence. IHIT investigators attended the area and conducted an additional search,” said Cpl. Sukhi Dhesi.
The documentary crew had partnered with the Canadian Cadaver Canines Association, which uses dogs trained to detect human remains.
“Two of their dogs indicated an area of interest, and these dogs are trained specifically to detect bones, and that was enough for us to call the police,” said the film producer Jenni Baynham, who has been creating the documentary since May this year. “I heard this story four years ago about a girl who went missing on Bowen Island, and police told me, he said at the time that her body never left the island,” Jenni said. “And I thought that was really interesting, because Bowen Island is only 50 square kilometers, so how hard could it be to find the body?”
Jenni described the documentary as emotionally challenging. “It’s just really hard to have boundaries. You know when, when somebody calls the tip line or messages on social media, you have to jump on it in that moment, or else the person could change their mind about talking,” she said.
Jenni Baynham also admired the police and the strength of Henrickson’s family, who have endured more than 15 years of unanswered questions. “What her family has gone through over the past 15 years is, in my opinion, torture. And so the sacrifices I have made to do this are nothing, literally nothing, compared to what the families of these victims have to go through.”
Retired RCMP officer Peter Cross, who led Henrickson’s case before retiring, also assists with the documentary. While expressing hope that the renewed attention could generate meaningful leads, she acknowledged mixed feelings about the attention the documentary itself has drawn.
“The sad part of me feels that the documentary is interesting to people, and that makes me feel sad because every missing person should have this level of interest,” she said. “So my hope is what’s happening for Jodi right now could happen for every missing person because everybody should care, regardless of whether a documentary is made,” she said.
Meanwhille, Cpl. Dhesi said since IHIT took conduct of this investigation in 2010, they have worked diligently to pursue every investigational avenue available. “IHIT remains committed to finding out what happened to Jodi and we urge anyone with information about her disappearance to please contact the IHIT Information Line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.”
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