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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2002-04-24, Page 10Chief Russell Phillips scaled down the missing person investigation on June 23. 1995 against the advice of the Ontario Provincial Police and Child Find. • On June 29. 1995 former Goderich Police Chief essentially shut down the missing person investigation. The investigation remained virtually dormant for the month of July. 1995. • Chief Phillips made a formal. written request for assistance from the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch on July 26. 1995. That request was made far too late. "Given the circumstances. information, suspicions and the obviously high potential and probability for foul play. this request for assistance should have been made immediately after Mistic Murray's disappearance." the summary says. "By the time the Criminal Investigative Branch of the OPP was requested, two months had passed since Mistie Murray's disappearance." This large time lapse put investigators at a severe disadvantage, the summary continues. The absence of a body, a crime scene and an obvious motive. makes any case difficult to investigate. • A Violent Crimc Link Analysis System submission was not made. Investigators did not meet with officers from other areas to discuss similar missing persons cases in Huron -Bruce. • There was an investigative focus on Steve Murray, Mistie's father. who was tried but acquitted of the crime. • • There are no reports or files to explain if or how other suspects were cleared. • During 1994 and 1995 Mistie Murray's behaviour had become difficult to manage. according to the summary of the York Regional Police audit. She ignored parental warnings that company she kept might be dangerous. Her school attendance and grades declined seriously. A 'profiler' from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) placed Mistie's behaviour in a high- risk category as far as foul play is concerned. • Police destroyed tapes made from the Mistie Murray Hot Line which included sighting reports of Mistic Murray and other tips from the public. • The 'Read Me Right Away' final letter from Mistic Murray. written to her parents a few days before her disappearance. is in the possession of the Goderich Court. • After the 1997 acquittal of Steve Murray. the OPP's Wally Baker continued to tell the media he believed Steve Murray was guilty as he ordered specialized sonar equipment to continue searching the lake for a body. His actions did not violate police policy. according to the summarized report. 2 -TME HURON EXPOSITOR, May S. 2001 u e .46 Weed & �tcontrol Fertilizer application ►rrw 100% Organic Fertilizer Jack Lubbers Ca11527-0582 • Bedry Campbell Registered Mango Therapist 9amw$pia Fridays 9unto 5pm Add a regular massage your raM ibt n lot bells health b 20011 527-2058 It only huffs, b you don't Carr SANS P1111101 IHOW Due to unforeseen circumstances we have to cancel the fashion show scheduled for May 10th. The Administration and Fashion Show Committee would like to express our appreciation to the many individuals and businesses who generously offered their support. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the cancellation of this event. o k'eaJat. t, Principal SDHS •Hanging Baskets •Planters •Giftware •Roses •Vines •Shrubs Let her decide...Buy a Gift Certificate Stewart Acres GREENHOUSES & GARDEN CENTRE I East of Seaforth, just off Hwy.#8 522-0495 News Audit finds police failed to investigate leads From Page 1 immediately ... we'll ask the follow-up investigation be done as quickly as possible." The former Goderich-area woman, who now teaches in Stratford, said the police audit isn't the end of her ordeal but it's one step towards healing. "It's not over but it's one more step getting closer to closure," she said. Despite the report's vindication of many of Murray's complaints, she says the audit results still don't change the fact it may be too late to find her daughter. "The chance of success was back in 1995," she said. "I now recognize it's probably too late for Mistie but (after this audit) I would hope no missing person would be totally abandoned like Mistie was." Murray criticized the police for keeping reported sightings of her daughter "and hiding them in a.filing cabinet" until a defence attorney specifically asked to see them in 1996. "I think it's very clear when you read the key points in the York audit that there was no investigation for our missing daughter," she said. The audit recommended that Detective Constable Mark Johnston, of the Goderich OPP, be removed from the investigation, although he will continue to liaise with the new investigators. Murray called this development "long overdue." A spokesperson for the Ontario Provincial Police criminal investigations branch, Detective Superintendent Jim Miller, said the OCCOPS process is not yet complete and he could not comment on what recommendations have been Our Annual 2001 Winter Sports Edition will soon be published and we need your help! Please bring in your team pictures to the Huron Expositor at 11 Main St., Seaforth or mail to us at P.O. Box 69, Seaforth ON NOK 1WO (Please make sure you identify all participants) OR To arrange a team photo, please call our editor Scott Hilgendorff at 527-0240 ALL PHOTOS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 5 PM FRIDAY, MAY 18. "Your Community Newspaper" implemented. He said he could not confirm Johnston's status on the case. The London Free Press reported on Saturday that he had, indeed, been removed from the case. Miller said many of the recommendations of the OCCOPS initial report have been implemented. He said the OPP has already responded in writing to the initial report but he said he did not want to release those comments at this time. "The process is still ongoing," he said. "We're going to wait until their process is complete before we can make any further comment on the matter." Miller did say the investigation is continuing. The audit found that the investigation by Goderich Police and the OPP had centred on Steve Murray, Mistie's father, to the exclusion of other suspects and sightings suggesting Mistie was still alive after May 1995. "This case was consumed by tunnel vision," Anne Murray said. Cudmore released a six- page summary of key points in the York Regional Police audit. The audit also recommended that: • The OPP should assign new investigators to reinvestigate certain aspects of this case including potential suspects and persons of interest. • Detective Inspector Paul Chaytor be Officer -in -Charge of this investigation. • An age -enhanced photo of Mistie Murray should be distributed through normal police channels. • New investigators should create a complete and exhaustive forensic collection to profile the missing person including fingerprints. • The government of Ontario should offer a reward in the amount of $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the disappearance and/or death of Mistie Murray. • The Mistie Murray case should be represented as a Missing Person Investigation with a strong suspicion of foul play. • A demographic profile of potential burial sites for the body should be developed and a media campaign initiated to request people check their properties for signs of a burial or crime scene. • No reference should be made in future correspondence from the police that Steve Murray had been charged and acquitted of murder. • Police may mention that Mistie has probably been a victim of foul play. • The Mistie Murray missing person case should be examined for similarities to other missing person cases from the area and be included in larger task force investigations. • The 'Read Me Right Away' letter, written to Mistie's parents a few days before her disappearance, should be returned to Anne Murray, once the OPP has completed a forensic examination for fingerprints. • The case should be submitted to the Violent Crime Link Analysis System. These are some of the report's other key points, as summarized by Cudmore: • The former Goderich Police Services was not adequately prepared to effectively investigate the disappearance of Mistie Murray. • The former Goderich Police Services did not have staffing, equipment, technology, training or supervision to properly investigate a major occurrence. • The former Goderich Police Services did not have a policy or procedure in place to effectively and efficiently investigate the missing person case. • Former Goderich Police Chief Russell Phillips did not initiate a plan of action after receiving the missing person report. • Important sighting reports received by police immediately after Mistie Murray's disappearance were not acted upon. Critical information was ignored, interviews were not conducted and follow-up investigation was not done. • It had a very negative effect on the investigation when police officers failed to canvass, search and conduct thorough interviews in the area where Mistie was last seen. • Lack of a Case Management System that ensured all relevant information was processed, evaluated and prioritized, resulted in interviews not being conducted in a timely fashion. This allowed information to slip through the cracks or memories to become faded or clouded over time. • Former Goderich Police 1111111.111 r 1 L J Ali MEW 519'524-8304 GROUND SCHOOL ...starting soon! LEARN ROW TO FLY! Present this coupon to Western Air Services located 1 at the Goderich Municipal Airport. 1 INTRO $3000 $35) Call to book your appointment now! Let this be your introduction to flying. Expiration Date May 31, 2001 WESTERN Alit SERVICES VItr 1 1 1 1 McMaster Siemon At INSURANCE BROKERS INC. 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