deadmonton 1996 - joanne ghostkeeper
Joanne Ghostkeeper, 24, was strangled to death December 25th, 1996.
Case status is open and active.
When Joanne Ghostkeeper's parents hadn't heard from her for several days they went to her apartment at 11925 34 Street. On Christmas Day, 1996 they found her body, dead as a result of manual strangulation.
Nine years later, Edmonton Police Service's Historical Homicide Division brought the case back to the forefront of public attention.
The Ghostkeeper family had been going through some of Joanne's belongings when they found a roll of undeveloped film. They turned the film over to city police in October, 2005.
Among the resulting images were pictures of two men, one of whom police and the Ghostkeeper family had dealt with before.
On December 21st, 2005 police released the pictures from Ghostkeeper's film to the public. Her family recognised the photos as being taken in Joanne's apartment.
Police hoped that members of the public recognise the two individuals captured on the nearly decade-old roll. The pictures were taken six months before Ghostkeeper's death.
Ghostkeeper was a mother of two. Her homicide was the 18th of 1996, a year that saw 19 murders in total. She was last seen drinking at the Beverly Crest Motel on December 22, 1996 with another woman and a few men. Ghostkeeper was associated with the city's sex trade.
Within 24 hours of the release of the photographs, the two men pictured came forward and spoke with police detectives.
Neither man was treated as a suspect and police did not state if the two men were able to provide information useful to detectives. The media coverage did generate other leads that police are following.
A $40,000 reward offered in 1997 has gone unclaimed. Project KARE is aware of the Edmonton police investigation but is not conducting the investigation. The public is asked to contact local law enforcement authorities with any information they feel might be helpful by calling 780-422-TIPS or 780-423-4567.