The Daily News - Prince Rupert BC

On August 26, 1989 an Aboriginal women named Alberta Gail Williams, 24, disappeared from Prince Rupert.

Family searched frantically, police were notified and in the words of Alberta's sister Kathy Williams, "I just knew something was wrong."

"My father said, 'it makes me so sad to see my kids out there looking through bushes. He said 'If she's not alive I want to know what happened,"

remembers Claudia Williams, also a sister of Alberta.

A few weeks later, in mid-September as the family still searched everyday, some hikers came across a body approximately 37 kilometres east of Prince Rupert on Highway 16 near the Tyee Overpass. The body was flown to Vancouver for an autopsy amid a swirl of rumours and questions. Coroners there confirmed the Williams family's worst fears: Alberta had not disappeared, she had been murdered.

Police never released any details on how Alberta was killed. Now, almost 15 years later, she has not been fully laid to rest -- and her family is still searching for answers.

In the summer of 1989, Alberta and Claudia had moved to Rupert to work at a local fish company.

They had family in town and there were plenty of summer jobs on the North Coast. As the season wore down, the two sisters went out for a night on the town to celebrate an end to their time in Rupert.

"[Aug. 26] was our last pay day and then we were going to move to Vancouver," said Claudia.

Alberta was with Claudia, Kathy and her cousin Carole Russell -- as well as Phoebe Russell and her boyfriend Gordon McLean -- at Popeye's Pub (now the Rupert Pub) the last night she was seen.

"When I got outside, she turned towards the old Greyhound building and I lost her. I said, Where did she go?" said Claudia

What followed after still remains unclear. The Daily News reported when the event happened that Alberta attended " a local bar and then a house party."

Alberta's family also heard something similar.

"I heard she was at a party and some people saw her," said Wally Samuel, Alberta Williams' uncle.

Samuel believes that there are people who -- for whatever reason -- did not come to police when the incident happened.

"There's just some stories going around," he said.

There were also reports in The Daily News that Alberta was seen with a man later that evening.

Alberta Williams was slight at five-foot-two and 115 pounds with dark brown, curly shoulder-length hair. She was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt, black stretch pants and slip-on shoes.

"She was just so kind," Claudia said. "So tiny and so kind."

She said Alberta was very quiet, friendly and always joking. "She never bothered anybody. She's the type that'll mind her own business," said Williams. "She loved people. Out of all my sisters she's the best.

"I really think she'd be around today if she wasn't the friendly person she was."

When she thinks about her sister though, Claudia can't control her displeasure with the police investigating her murder.

"There's things that should be done," she said.

Williams said she's dealt with several police officers over the last 15 years.

"They say we're working on it, that they'll get back to you," she said.

Kathy Williams offers a different perspective, saying that police have had difficulty finding the perpetrator of this crime because of the month long lapse between her disappearance and the discovery of her body.

"I wish this would be solved," said Kathy Williams. "I hope police get moving, get cracking and solve this thing. I talked to one lady cop -- the case is still open, so she doesn't want to say too much."

Another tragedy struck the Williams family on Nov. 22 of last year, as Alberta's mother passed away just two months after the 14th anniversary of her daughter's death.

"[My mother] never really talked too much about it," said Williams. "Your heart is pretty much ripped out when something like this happens."

Her sister Claudia echoed the same sentiment.

"[Not knowing] really hurt her until the end," she said. "Look at everything she had to go through."

Alberta's father has also been in the hospital for the last six years after an aneurysm, said a family member. Five years prior to Alberta's death, the Williams' lost another sister, Pamela, to a hit and run accident by a drunk driver.

Claudia Williams had spent much of the last 15 years leading the charge to find Alberta's murderer. However she turned the crusade over to her uncle, Wally Samuel, after she felt she could no longer deal with the police.

"We're trying to spark people's minds," said Samuel. "We know some of our own people know something. Everybody missed her that day."

Samuel has made up a poster and hopes to put it in band offices and Friendship Centres along the Skeena. He believes some one will see it and they will remember something.

As for the RCMP, at the time of Alberta's murder, police received hundreds of tips from the public, said Const. Jagdev Uppal.

"A number of people have come to our attention through the course of the investigation. Some have been eliminated as possible suspects, and others have not," said Uppal. "The investigation that has occurred to date has been extensive; however, further information is needed to determine who is responsible for Alberta's death. We encourage anyone with information to contact the local RCMP."

In order to protect the integrity of their ongoing investigation, police refused to release any evidence regarding the cause of death or specific details of the case.

When asked if they had applied new advancements in forensic technology to the case, RCMP only offered that it "can be an important consideration in historical, serious crimes investigations."

"Murder investigations such as this remain active until they are solved. As mentioned, the investigation into Alberta's death, particularly at the time of the event, was extensive and includes over 200 tips," said Uppal. "Due to the seriousness of the matter, and to protect the integrity of the investigation, details regarding the evidence are not being released."

The file was originally handled by the Prince Rupert General Investigative Section, with additional manpower being provided by the Prince George Major Crime Section. Prince Rupert is the only detachment investigating the matter at this time. The file is continually reviewed by members of the Prince Rupert GIS, said Uppal.

"The RCMP continues to be in contact with Alberta's family members and they have been kept up to date on the status of the investigation. Often we are limited in the information we can provide to a victim's family, and we understand this doesn't always sit well with the family," said Uppal. "What I can tell you is both the RCMP and Alberta's family members have one thing in common, and that is the desire to see that whoever is responsible for Alberta's death be brought to justice."

Claudia Williams admits to still having a lot of hurt over the loss of her sister. Still, she remains strong in her hope that her "so tiny and so kind" sister will get the justice she deserves.

"If [Alberta] could help someone out like with what we're asking, she'd come forward," said Williams.

Police are asking the public if they have any information on the Alberta Williams case. Contact RCMP at 627-0700 or Crimestoppers at 627-8477