October 19 2016

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Volume 56 • Issue 42

Still no answers 30 years after Kerrie Ann Brown’s murder shocked Thompson BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

Thirty years have passed since they last saw her alive, but friends and family of Kerrie Ann Brown, who was 15 years old when she went missing Oct. 16, 1986, her body found two days later near the horse stables north of Thompson, have relived that day over and over and over again in their minds. “We’ve been obsessing about this for 11,000 nights,” says Trevor Brown, who was in Grade 11, one year ahead of his sister, when she disappeared after a party and was sexually assaulted and then killed, a murder that remains unsolved. “It’s rented space every day in my mind for 30 years and it won’t go away until I get answers.” Kerrie’s mother died in 2002 without ever receiving those answers. “She never got through this,” says Trevor. “She died deeply depressed and that would’ve been 16 years after my sister’s death. She was still in deep depression for my sister’s loss.” Kerrie’s father James, now 76, is still haunted by his daughter’s killing, too. “He’ll tell you he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in 30 years because he thinks about her constantly,” says Trevor, who moved back to Thompson a couple of years ago to help care for his father. For Nicole Zahorodny, who was good friends with Kerrie and one of the last people, besides her killer, to see her alive, the passage of time hasn’t made things easier. The two were leaving a party and Zahorodny went back

Thompson Citizen photo by Ian Graham Trevor Brown with family photos of his younger sister Kerrie Ann Brown, who disappeared 0ct. 16, 1986 after attending a party. Her body was found two days later near the horse stables north of Thompson. No on has been convicted of her murder. inside, coming out a few minutes later to find that her friend was gone. “I have relived that night for 30 years,” Zahorodny said. “It doesn’t get easier as they say, it gets different. I remember it vividly as the images flash through my head at lightning speed. I see myself sitting in the basement with her on my lap. Standing outside and feeling the snowflakes hitting my face. Finding her gone minutes later and walking the streets calling her name. Crying and wanting desperately to find her and nothing. Walking

the streets, putting up posters and going door-to-door the next day. Being dragged home because a body was found. Hearing the phone ring and my mom say, ‘No’ and begin to cry. Knowing what that meant. Laying lifeless in my basement hoping to wake from the nightmare. Waking every morning and thinking it was a dream and realizing time after time it was reality. Standing at the front of the church and speaking about someone you had intended to walk through life with and

share your journey.” RCMP Const. Janna Amirault, one of seven investigators with Manitoba’s historical homicide unit, which is responsible for killings that haven’t resulted in charges being laid after five years, has been the lead investigator on Kerrie Ann Brown’s murder for about five years and says the difference between life and death for the 15-year-old girl who had lived in Thompson since 1974 boils down to a very brief window.

“She was with a friend getting ready to leave and the friend just went back to let somebody else know where they were going and then during that time – and from what we know it wasn’t a very long period of time – Kerrie for whatever reason decided to go outside and we don’t know exactly what happened from there,” Amirault says. “She had people around her that cared about her and cared about her safety and that’s what makes it tough. It really could have hap-

pened to anybody and it was a big shock to the community when it did happen and I think that a lot of people still remember it because it was such a big shock.” Trevor says it wasn’t until the day after party – Oct. 17, 1986, a Friday with no school in session – that Kerrie’s friends and family realized she was missing. “We started freaking out around lunch time on Friday when her friends were calling and we’re saying she’s at Nicole [Zahorodny’s] last night,” he says. When Zahorodny called looking for Kerrie, they realized no one knew where Kerrie was “She made some phone calls and then she called us back and said Kerrie’s lost, we don’t know where Kerrie is. It was at that point my parents called the cops, let them know what was going on. They came over, got a picture of Kerrie, created a flyer really quick. Within a couple of hours they had a bunch of flyers made and then we started distributing them across the city. I was at home answering the phone, talking to people that were calling. Once people had started learning that she was missing, that we were looking for her, people wanted to help look for her so they did. Lots of people were out looking for her all over the city. No one found her that day. We didn’t sleep that night.” The following day, around 2 p.m., two friends of Kerrie’s showed up at the Brown family’s front door and told Trevor that a body had been Continued on Page 2

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October 19 2016 by Thompson Citizen - Issuu