RCMP Charge Suspect in Cold Case Murders of Two Young Girls

BC RCMP have laid charges against a man believed to be responsible for the murder of two young girls dating back to 1975 near Merritt and Abbotsford.

According to police, 67 year old Gary Taylor Hanlen has been charged with two counts of first degree murder in the deaths of 12 year old Monica Jack and 11 year old Kathryn-Mary Herbert. The cold cases began on September 24^th, 1975 when Herbert’s mother Shari reported her daughter missing. On November 17^th, 1975 her partially decomposed body was located near Harris Road, an undeveloped area of the Matsqui First Nations Reserve, by two residents. Herbert had her identity confirmed through dental records. An autopsy confirmed she had been the victim of a homicide.

Earlier in the evening of Herbert’s disappearance she had last been seen at a friend’s house in Abbotsford, and was doubled on a friend’s bicycle part way home. The two parted ways and she was never seen alive again.

Monica Jack disappeared while bicycling near Merritt on May 6^th, 1978. She was never seen again and her fate unknown until 1995 when a forestry worker found her skeletal remains off a ravine on Swakum Mountain, about 20 kilometres from where her bike had been located. Jack was identified through dental records and in 1996 police said they had a suspect but not enough evidence to lay charges.

RCMP is appealing to the public for information about Handlen in the lower mainland during the late 1970s.

“The road to today’s announcement has been long,” said Supt. Ward Lymburner, Officer in charge of Special Projects Unit. “In Monica’s investigation alone, once it was transferred to the E-PANA team, police reviewed over 500 investigative tasks and then initiated another 241 tasks including re-interviewing individuals and exploring new forensic analysis options. Our efforts to bring the girls’ alleged killer to justice have been extensive and exhaustive.”

Handlen, originally from Ontario, was arrested without incident in Surrey on November 28^th, 2014 and will remain in custody and is scheduled to appear in court again on December 8^th, 2014. No other information regarding the arrest and relation to the victims has been released by police.