Walkers seek justice for missing women

Lori Culbert, Vancouver sun
Published: Saturday, June 21, 2008

Gladys Radek will be thinking of her niece Tamara Chipman, who vanished along the Highway of Tears, when she leaves Vancouver today to walk to Ottawa to demand justice for missing and murdered women.

She and other walkers planned to gather with supporters this morning at Trout Lake for a send-off breakfast before beginning their trek, scheduled to end Sept. 15 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

"We're talking about women across Canada, we've got a list of over 3,000 names of missing and murdered women . . . from the past four decades," Radek said in an interview Friday.

Many of the women are native.

Organizers have rallies planned along the route, and the first stop today is to be the former pig farm owned by Robert (Willie) Pickton.

Pickton was convicted last year of killing six women, and is charged in the murders of another 20 women, who all disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

"Our first stop will be at the Pickton farm to offer our prayers," she said.

Radek knew some of the 65 women who vanished from the Downtown Eastside, including Dawn Crey, whose DNA was found on the Pickton farm.

Radek has been an advocate for her niece and eight other women who disappeared along the so-called Highway of Tears, a lonely section of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert.

RCMP are investigating 18 cases of missing or murdered women from an area that stretches from Highway 16 to Kamloops, Merritt, and 100 Mile House.

The "Walk4Justice" participants hope the federal government will hold a public inquiry into the women missing from both the Downtown Eastside and the Highway of Tears.

Participants plan to walk 10 hours a day, and to pick up additional supporters along their route. They have been fundraising and have support vehicles to assist them.

Radek also hopes the walk will raise money for education funds for children of the missing and murdered women.