In 2022, Vancouver police sought help from Seattle to identify a woman found dead near an inflatable kayak after pollen tests suggested a link to Seattle or Portland.
Vancouver police are seeking the public’s help in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest to identify a woman found dead in the water nearly four years ago, and new scientific tests suggest she may have spent her final days in Washington or Oregon.
On the night of September 29, 2022, a tugboat crew called 911 after finding an unconscious woman floating in English Bay near a popular beach in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“The tugboat crew discovered the body of a woman floating in the water, alone,” said Sgt. Adam Donaldson, Vancouver Police Public Affairs. “She had a kayak, an inflatable kayak. Some personal items, including some insulin and some gummy bears.”
The woman had no identification and nearly four years later, no one reported her missing.
Vancouver detectives traveled to Seattle this week, releasing new forensic renderings and asking for help directly.
“We came to Seattle because we needed help,” Donaldson said. “We need help identifying this woman.”
Police described her as a black woman in her 30s to 40s, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 175 to 200 pounds. Despite media campaigns and database checks, they found no matches in Canada or through the FBI.
“I expect in the next few days, if it’s not a family member reporting her, it’s going to be an employer reporting their employee for not showing up,” Donaldson said. “But that call never came.”
Investigators said they have ruled out foul play, but the cause of death remains undetermined.
“It’s been almost four years,” said Detective Rebecca Matson of the Vancouver Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit. “We are very confident that she was not reported missing in B.C. and we are reassured that she was not reported missing in Canada. She may not have been reported missing anywhere.”
Last summer, investigators ordered a pollen analysis of evidence related to the woman and her belongings. It turns out she may have spent her last days in the Seattle or Portland areas, where this particular type of pollen was found.
“It gave us a spark of hope,” said Sgt. Anton Schanberg and the Missing Persons Unit. “So we have a zone, so that’s why we worked so hard to get here.”
Detectives said their thought is that someone, somewhere, knew and cared about the woman.
“She was somebody’s sister, somebody’s daughter, somebody’s friend, somebody’s colleague,” Mattson said. “The greatest insult in death is not to acknowledge it.”
Vancouver police have released detailed video and new renderings of the case. They invite anyone to watch and share the video Youtubeas well as the Vancouver Police Department’s social media accounts on@VancouverPolice) and Instagram (@Vancouverpd).
Anyone with information is asked to email thekayaker@vpd.ca or call 604-717-0619 and visit VPD.ca/unidentified-persons to view this and other unidentified person cases.
