Trial of the Century?

Several years ago I met a man named Wayne Leng. He had fallen into the world of the missing because of a friend who had gone missing in 1998. A story was unfolding in Vancouver, Canada. A much bigger story than anyone had expected.

Wayne's friend, Sarah de Vries, was one of 69 missing women. All of the disappearances were later blamed on a Vancouver area pig farmer name Willy Pickton.

During Wayne's search for Sarah, he created a web-site, MissingPeople.net. In fact - Wayne received one the first tips that suggested Pickton as a suspect, he passed along to officials.

The general feeling was that the local authorities were not taking the case with enough seriousness. The irony was that the missing women were for the most part drug addicted prostitutes. Officials felt that the women simply moved on to other areas, living as transients. But the people who knew these women best knew better. Most were certain that there was something terribly wrong.

Early on the media also had little interest in the unfolding events. Finally, Lindsay Kines, a reporter with the Vancouver Sun came out with an article called "Missing On The Mean Streets" and that is what cast the events into the spotlight.

Pickton seemed to have picked a most vulnerable group of people possible form the community. The fact that these women were prostitutes very likely delayed the early search efforts. After more clues surfaced, Pickton was arrested in 2002.

The search for remains at the Pickton Pig Farm yielded around 200,000 DNA samples Some 378,000 cubic yards of soil have been excavated. At one time 103 anthropologists, a dozen forensic experts worked with around 100 investigators.

The trial began in January of 2007. Will Pickton be charged with murder for all of the 69 missing women? Will he be found to be one of the most deadly and horrific serial killers in history?

Past and present events in the ongoing investigation and trial can be found on Wayne Leng's web -site.

http://www.MissingPeople.net

http://missingpiecesshow.homestead.com/MissingPiecesEpisode7Archive.html