RCMP want help in Amber McFarland homicide case
CBC News | Posted: October 17, 2014 6:29 PM | Last Updated: October 17, 2014
Manitoba RCMP have issued a plea for help in solving the six-year-old missing persons case of Amber McFarland.
The Portage la Prairie woman was last seen during the early morning of Oct. 18, 2008. Surveillance video shows her with two men inside a hotel beer vendor in that city. Her empty car was found in the parking lot.
Constable David Portelance said even the smallest detail from the public could make a difference and help bring closure to McFarland's family.
“Sometimes people will think they know something and assume RCMP already knows it, and [they] don't bother calling us," said Portelance. "But sometimes a little thing that you think is very small can be the big thing to push forward an investigation.”
McFarland, who was 24 when she disappeared, is described as five feet and seven inches tall with blonde hair and a slender build.
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On the anniversary of her disappearance, the RCMP are renewing its appeal for help.
“This case is still very much under investigation. We are following up tips at this moment and are asking for any other help that the public can provide to assist us in bringing Amber back to her family," RCMP Sgt. Dan Barnabe said.
Two people were arrested in 2009, including her boyfriend, who was one of the men in the surveillance video with her.
RCMP had initially searched the boyfriend's residence in the fall of 2008, then new evidence prompted them to return and dig up his backyard. But both men arrested were later released without being charged.
Despite not finding McFarland, RCMP in 2009 declared the case to be a homicide, but they never revealed what prompted that decision.
Several important questions remain unanswered and the RCMP Historical Case Unit is not giving up, he added.
"What Amber’s family has endured is unimaginable, and we will continue to aggressively investigate this matter as a homicide. We have set up a tip line and would ask that the public to call 204-984-6447,” stated a news release from the RCMP.
If you heard, saw or know anything relating to the disappearance of Amber McFarland on Oct. 18, 2008, contact the RCMP at 204-984-6447 or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or by texting "TIPMAN" plus your message to CRIMES (274637).