Murder of Melanie Carpenter

Melanie Carpenter (April 22, 1971 – January 6, 1995)[1] was a Canadian 23-year-old woman who was abducted and murdered in British Columbia, on January 6, 1995.[2] Carpenter was taken from her workplace in Surrey and found dead in the Fraser Canyon several weeks later, and the prime suspect, Fernand Auger, committed suicide before arrest.[3][4][5]

Melanie Carpenter
Born(1971-04-22)April 22, 1971
British Columbia, Canada
DiedJanuary 6, 1995(1995-01-06) (aged 23)
British Columbia, Canada
Body discoveredJanuary 26, 1995
NationalityCanadian
Parents
  • Steve Carpenter (father)
  • Sandra Carpenter (mother)

Disappearance

On January 6, 1995, Melanie Carpenter, a 23-year-old woman from Surrey, British Columbia,[6] had received suspicious phone calls from a man feigning interest in a business deal. Later that day, Carpenter was abducted from where she was working alone at a tanning salon in the Fleetwood town centre of Surrey.[7]

Investigation

The afternoon that Carpenter went missing, a bank security camera recorded a 37-year-old man, Fernand Auger, making a $300 withdrawal using Carpenter's debit card, and the footage was shown on national TV the next day. Auger was a drifter from Ontario, frequently working as a waiter in restaurants, and had been a resident of Calgary, Alberta, until moving to British Columbia days before the murder. In August 1994, Auger had been released from prison in Bowden, Alberta, where he had served a 16-month sentence for armed robbery, and was on parole at the time. Auger quickly became the number one suspect in the abduction, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.[8][9]

On January 15, 1995 Auger was found dead at a vacant home in High River, Alberta, 55 kilometers (34 mi) south of Calgary, by a real estate agent during a viewing with a client. Auger had committed suicide in a garage on the property by inhaling carbon monoxide fumes from the engine of his car, a Hyundai Excel rented from Calgary.[10]

Carpenter's corpse was found shortly afterwards along an isolated road in a First Nations reserve near Hope, a rural town in British Columbia's Fraser Canyon, 45 kilometers (28 mi) northeast of Chilliwack. Her body had been abandoned in a crevice and concealed by a white blanket.[11][12]

Aftermath

In 1995, the Melanie Carpenter Foundation was established to create a memorial for Carpenter.[13] After her death, Carpenter's father formed a petition to keep murderers in prison as speeches were made, petitions were signed and rallies were held in protest against Canada's parole system.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Melanie Carpenter". Heyyitsjen. 2019-05-05. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
  2. "Canada's Daughter | Althea Thauberger". Althea Thauberger. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
  3. Zytaruk, Tom. "SURREY MURDER: Here we go again — cases like Serena Vermeersch's aren't new for Surrey - Surrey News". Surrey Now. Archived from the original on 2016-05-13. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
  4. "Carpenter's body found in B.C". connection.ebscohost.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  5. "Crime and punishment. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  6. "An Indigenous mother searches for answers on B.C.'s Highway of Tears". The UC Observer. 2004-11-01. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
  7. Crime in the West: True Horror Stories in the West. APH Publishing. 1996-01-01. ISBN 9788170247913.
  8. "Carpenter's body found in B.C". connection.ebscohost.com. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  9. "Murder in the Giant mine | Maclean's | JANUARY 30, 1995". Maclean's | The Complete Archive. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
  10. "Cameras, cameras everywhere - CBC Archives". Retrieved 2017-04-11.
  11. Carpenter's body found in B.C. Alberta Report / Newsmagazine, 02250519, 2/13/95, Vol. 22, Issue 9
  12. "Carpenter's body found in B.C". connection.ebscohost.com. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  13. "Memorials". Reto Marti Stone Mason/Sculptor. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
  14. Zytaruk, Tom. "SURREY MURDER: Here we go again — cases like Serena Vermeersch's aren't new for Surrey - Surrey News". Surrey Now. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
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