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Unsolved mystery: Where is Jennifer Catcheway?

JOE FRIESEN

From Monday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 10:56 PM EDT 06/07/08

After the teen didn't show up for her 18th birthday party, her family has tried to get this missing person case on the public's radar ...Read the full article

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  1. Ryan Ginger from Canada writes: I hope and I pray that she will be found safe and sound. People out there love her dearly.
  2. R. M. from Regina, Canada writes: Very disturbing and perplexing. Yet another Aboriginal woman missing, adding to the tragedy and heartbreak of a proud culture.
  3. Emma Hawthorne from Canada writes: Police need to move quickly when someone unexpectedly goes missing. This idea of doing nothing and imagining that every missing person is off on a bender is absurd and danagerous to the public. It is a flawed notion that needs to be discarded.
  4. Dick W. from Toronto, Canada writes: Uh... if there turns out to have been a serious issue here, like foul play, is the RCMP responsible for letting this girl remain missing for so long after having been informed and asked to investigate? Somebody's got to start answering for this stuff. If that happens maybe this stuff will stop happening!

    My heart goes out to the family.
  5. J Alder from Canada writes: Do we all need to dye our hair blonde and bleach our skin before people (that includes you, media!) starts to pay attention?
  6. Bert Russell Paradox, BC from Canada writes: When someone turns 18 years, they are adult ... they have certain rights, when they are reported missing, normally it is 48 hours before the Police will become involved ... otherwise that is all they would be doing 24 hrs a day. People who think otherwise should give your head a shake... perhaps the Globe and Mail could have explained the Rights of an individual, but then they couldn't sensationalize the incident.
    If they Police found her, she could say I don't want you to tell them where I am or that you found me ... what can they do then, as she is old enough to take that decision, for any number of reasons. She would be encouraged to contact her family, but if she told police not to ... what then.
    Most posters are responding to their fear and are convinced something bad happened to her. We can't have the Police continually looking for people who have decided for reasons of their own, not to contact their famililies, who fear the worst.
    An example: young people and particularly young women have been warned not to hitchike and yet they continue to do so ...
    Perhaps GM in their wisdom would inform the Public in an article such as this, of the right to Privacy of an individual.
  7. gordon foster from Canada writes: Bert Russell pseudonym, 48 hours is a lot less than a week and a half. Why don't you read the article?
  8. Glenn F from Winnipeg, Canada writes: Contrary to this article, the RCMP did act within 48 hours. However, members of the family also expressed that it was in fact her 18th birthday, and she had already been spotted at two house parties by relatives and friends. It was only after they had realized that she was still 'missing' did they start the search.

    The 'ignore me because I'm Native' schtick is unbelievable, and it's frankly disgusting that anyone would suggest our police force would ignore a missing persons report just because of the colour of one's skin. They certainly didn't show racism when they went looking for those two Native girls that froze to death on a reserve in Sasketchewan (after their drunken father left them out in the cold), nor did they stop looking for that 40-year old Native woman that wandered out of her broken-down truck and got lost for 2 days either.

    We'll see what the final result of this is. From what I've heard of the story, it's very possible that a very hungover 18 year old girl may turn up alive and well yet.
  9. Steve Turner from Canada writes: For all we know, maybe the police took her on a starlight tour, like they do in Saskatchewan.

    Regardless, this case appears to be yet another example of the authorities acting (or more precisely, lack of acting) based on the stereotype of a Native probably 'partying it up', when the evidence suggests otherwise.

    It does fly in the face of everything we see on TV, like 'The First 48', where police (save the RCMP, apparently) realize that their greatest chance of bringing a case to closure occurs within the first 48 hours of the initial report. I guess in Manitoba, it's 'The First 300 ', if anything is done at all.

    Clearly, this case exemplifies the fact that even the supposedly 'culturally-sensitive' trained police force still rely on stereotypes to make judgements. This doesn't bode well for those wanting to support police racial-profiling, because this is an instance where the profiling led to a lack of action, and it further solidifies the claim that non-Caucasian Canadians make that the level of service they receive from the authorities is completely inconsistent with what the Caucasian segment of our population receives.
  10. Steve Turner from Canada writes: Glenn F: 'The 'ignore me because I'm Native' schtick is unbelievable, and it's frankly disgusting that anyone would suggest our police force would ignore a missing persons report just because of the colour of one's skin. They certainly didn't show racism when they went looking for those two Native girls that froze to death on a reserve in Sasketchewan (after their drunken father left them out in the cold), nor did they stop looking for that 40-year old Native woman that wandered out of her broken-down truck and got lost for 2 days either. ' They also didn't show racism when they let Neil Stonechild to freeze to death after a starlight tour. Oh...but that's Saskatchewan, and things are way different there. Here in T-dot, people are unwilling to ID shooters (whether Asian, black or otherwise) because they know the police won't protect them. That isn't saying that the police don't do it for racial reasons, but they do have a better track record of protecting witnesses in the more affluent areas of the city than Jane-Finch, Regent's Park, Scarberia or Parkdale. The problem is the perception is given, and it is difficult to overcome, especially when it seems like the police don't seem to have a problem catching non-Caucasians and filling our jails with them.
  11. Lorraine Singer from Anytown, Canada writes: Steve Turner wrote: Clearly, this case exemplifies the fact that even the supposedly 'culturally-sensitive' trained police force still rely on stereotypes to make judgements. ' Firstly, I have known of the dropping off of nightly drunken troublemakers outside of city limits, outbound on a subway, etc. right across the country in a number of provinces for the last 45 years - not affected by color/race but rather by the fact that they are troublemaking jerks- A kind of a 'time out' to put them where they don't annoy others and to allow them to 'sleep it off' although the Stonechild incident, admittedly, would have been, if that is what actually happened, an error in judgement. If, every night , the same people were causing disturbances and the cops were called out, again and again, hauling them in only to have to release them again in the morning, after hours of paper work, think about how it would put a dent in the time that they had to deal with real crime and you might be the one reporting it. Imagine, Steve, calling in a break in at your house but all the available police are out picking up the rowdies again. Stereotypes are built from experience and no one is immune from it, not even you, Steve Turner. I've seen young cadets right out of high school with none of these but after a number of years of exposure, stereotyping does occur. What no one seems to have asked is simply - Has this girl had a history of 'disappearing' before? I doubt very much that the RCMP would be dragging its heels unless there was more to the story.
  12. Steve Turner from Canada writes: Lorraine s:

    'Has this girl had a history of 'disappearing' before?'

    Apparently you share the same penchant for relying on sterotypes and assumptions that the RCMP has.

    I guess I hit the nail on the head with my earlier perspective.
  13. J Alder from Canada writes: It's hard to get away with blatent racism anymore these days... the racism that we now have to deal with is the insidious kind.

    Insidious racism is the kind where we assume different things based on a photograph. Where a thin, blond, 18-year old is 'pure' while a dark-haired, dark-skinned girl 'may have had a history'.

    The lists go on. An assumption that two white young men were randomly killed while waiting outside a downtown apartment building, while young black men killed in the suburbs somehow had it coming.

    Two things need to change:

    (1) the 'dominant' culture needs to understand that this type of thing is wrong.

    (2) the affected cultures need to stop using victimization as an excuse.
  14. only mikey from Canada writes: Why did it take so long for the RCMP to become involved--they should answer this question to the family and to everyone else.
  15. Steve Turner from Canada writes: I agree with J Alder's post:

    "Two things need to change:

    (1) the 'dominant' culture needs to understand that this type of thing is wrong.

    (2) the affected cultures need to stop using victimization as an excuse. "
  16. B.C. Expat from Ottawa-Hull, NCR, Canada writes: Steve Turner from Canada writes: Lorraine s:

    'Has this girl had a history of 'disappearing' before?'

    Apparently you share the same penchant for relying on sterotypes and assumptions that the RCMP has.

    I guess I hit the nail on the head with my earlier perspective.

    Nice conclusion you're jumping to there, big guy. Lorraine is talking about this one individual, and it is an extremely relevant question that the police should (and I presume do) ask about any missing individual, irrespective or race or colour. Your rush to complete Lorraine's thoughts with a racist motive says more to me about your own perspective than hers.
  17. Steve Turner from Canada writes: BCNCR:

    Unfortunately, you forgot to fully understand the context of Ms. Singer's observation, which ended with the sentence: "I doubt very much that the RCMP would be dragging its heels unless there was more to the story."

    Hence, Ms. Singer was clearly indicating that she hasn't the slightest clue as to why the RCMP were dragging its heels, so she decided to offer up a stereotypical explanation for their inertia.

    I'm certain that the Mounties would indeed try to determine if the person concerned had any habits that might affect the case...but to go a whole week and a half before the helicopter went out and individuals questioned?

    That in itself seems questionable.

    But it was still "nice" to see Ms. Singer make excuses for the police not doing anything. I bet the police already used the same rationale...
  18. lindapc foothills rocky mountains from Canada writes: Redundant people make statements about native woman in the negative, well she'll show up with a major hangover....eventually...
    Right now, walking across this country is a group of people that are doing the "WALK4JUSTICE" to Ottawa because of the high numbers of aboriginal women that have gone missing across the "highway of tears" in Canada.
    Get real people, this young woman when she is found probably will not be alive.
    All we can do is pray that her body be found so her family can have the knowledge of her loss.
    We lost our son to murder and having his body was a relief in the end, at lest we knew what had happened.
    OMG, these poor people. My heart goes out to them.
  19. dirk dirk from Canada writes: J Alder from Canada writes: Insidious racism is the kind where we assume different things based on a photograph. Where a thin, blond, 18-year old is 'pure' while a dark-haired, dark-skinned girl 'may have had a history'.

    There's no blond 18 year old in this story, what are you talking about?
  20. R Evans from Canada writes: It is wonderful just how much so many of you know about police work, and how police interact with different cultures on a daily basis. You should all apply for the job, and solve all the crime you witness in the papers and on TV. You would all do so without ever raising a hand, because you are all so sensitive and politically correct.

    I hear the RCMP is hiring. But, that is likely a job below your position, you are likely too enlightened.
  21. Can Rou from Edmonton, Canada writes: This young lady is my cousin and it's hard to understand why something like this happens. You all can have your own opinions about my cousin, but none of you know what she is like. All I can say is I love you Jen and I pray you'll come home... alive!

    By the way, racism is everywhere in Portage La Prairie. The local grocery stores, on the streets, the hospital and even when dealing with the RCMP.

    Truth be told... If you say it doesn't exist, you must be white.

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