May 2, 1981.

Hope, British Columbia.

After spending the night at a friend's house, 16-year-old Verna Birke leaves on a hitchhiking

trip to visit her boyfriend, but never arrives.

Five months later, some of Verna's belongings are discovered in a remote area, but there's

no trace of her body.

A serial killer named Clipperid Olson is soon charged and convicted for the murders of

11 children, which took place in British Columbia during this time period, and even though

there is speculation that Verna was one of his victims, this is never conclusively proven,

and she remains a missing person.

After that, the trail went cold.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to our latest episode of The Trail Went Cold.

I'm your host, Robert Warter, and today, we're going to be traveling back to our podcast

Home Country at Canada to explore an unsolved missing persons case.

The 1981 disappearance of Verna Birke.

I received a request to cover this one from a listener named Madeline Chadine, who happens

to be related to Verna Birke through their grandparents.

Back in September, I released an episode which focused on missing and murdered indigenous

women from Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, and discussed how one of Canada's biggest

issues is their epidemic of violence against indigenous victims, and the lack of attention

these stories often receive from law enforcement and the media.

Well, you're not going to find Verna Birke's name on any lists of missing and murdered

...