Hinton, Alberta
The Disappearance of Shelley Ann Bascu
On the evening of Tuesday, May 3, 1983 16 year old Shelly Anne Bascu was walking home from a friends house after babysitting in Hinton, Alberta. Shelley Ann had telephoned her Mom at 7:45pm that night to let her know she would be home in 15 minutes and asked her Mom to cook her the noodles that she loved. Sadly, Shelley Anne never made it home that night and she was never seen alive again.
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https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/can-i-help-find-your-missing-loved-one/id1511208618
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Sources
https://buriedmatters.com/blogs/buried-matters/the-decades-long-search-for-shelley-anne-bacsu
https://www.canihelpfindyourmissinglovedone.com/shelley-anne-bacsu/
https://globalnews.ca/news/519833/remains-found-near-hinton-still-under-investigation/
https://edmontonsun.com/2013/04/25/alberta-mounties-comping-remote-area-near-hinton-after-atvers-discover-remains
https://edmontonsun.com/2013/05/02/found-remains-near-hinton-rekindles-a-mix-of-emotions-for-alberta-family-of-missing-teen
Hinton, Alberta
The Disappearance of Shelley Ann Bascu
On the evening of Tuesday, May 3, 1983 16 year old Shelly Anne Bascu was walking home from a friends house after babysitting in Hinton, Alberta. Shelley Ann had telephoned her Mom at 7:45pm that night to let her know she would be home in 15 minutes and asked her Mom to cook her the noodles that she loved. Sadly, Shelley Anne never made it home that night and she was never seen alive again.
Podcast Recommendation
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/can-i-help-find-your-missing-loved-one/id1511208618
Follow us on social media:
TicTok
Visit our website:
Sources
https://buriedmatters.com/blogs/buried-matters/the-decades-long-search-for-shelley-anne-bacsu
https://www.canihelpfindyourmissinglovedone.com/shelley-anne-bacsu/
https://globalnews.ca/news/519833/remains-found-near-hinton-still-under-investigation/
https://edmontonsun.com/2013/04/25/alberta-mounties-comping-remote-area-near-hinton-after-atvers-discover-remains
https://edmontonsun.com/2013/05/02/found-remains-near-hinton-rekindles-a-mix-of-emotions-for-alberta-family-of-missing-teen
Welcome to Haunted Canada. Hi everyone, my name is Nadine and welcome to episode 11 of Haunted Canada. My name is Nadine and welcome to Episode 11 of Haunted Canada. If this is your first time listening to this podcast, thank you for joining us. And if you are a repeat listener, I want to sincerely thank you for supporting this podcast. I truly do appreciate it. If you want to continue to support us, please take the time to follow us. Give us a like and a 5-star written review, as that always helps. Also, please take the time to follow us. Give us a like and a five-star written review, as that always helps. Also, please take the time to follow us on Facebook, instagram and TikTok for all the updates.
Speaker 1:On episode 11, we're going to talk about the disappearance of 16-year-old Shelley Ann Bascue from Hinton, alberta, in 1983. On the evening of Tuesday, may 3, 1983, 16-year-old Shelly Ann Bascue was walking home from a friend's house after babysitting in Hinton, alberta. Shelly Ann had telephoned her mom at 7.45 pm that night to let her know that she would be home in 15 minutes and asked her mom to cook her the noodles that she loved. Sadly, shelly Ann never made it home that night and she was never seen alive again. To this day, no one knows what happened to Shelly Ann. She simply just vanished and at the airing of this podcast, shelly Ann Baskew has been missing for 41 years.
Speaker 1:Shelly Ann was your typical 16-year-old, growing up in Hinton, alberta, a small town with a population of only 8,500 residents at the time. That was on the outskirts of the Rocky Mountains, near Jasper, alberta, and about a three-hour drive from Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta. In 1983, hinton was a small but growing community, a major stop for people traveling on Highway 16 and Highway 40, traveling to or from British Columbia or Alberta. Shelley Ann's parents, muriel and Sandy Baskew, had decided to move to Hinton from Brooks, alberta, just six years earlier, in 1977, when Shelly Ann was 10 and her brother Tim was 11. Hinton was a flourishing community, yet small enough that it was a good and quiet place to raise a family with lots of opportunities. Good and quiet place to raise a family with lots of opportunities. The family lived on an acreage just outside of Hinton, off Highway 14, and it was an ideal place for Shelly and her brother Tim, with wide open spaces and breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains. The family home was far enough away from the small town of Hinton so that the family could enjoy the peace and quiet of country living. Yet it was also close enough that it was only a 10-15 minute drive to town, basically giving the family the best of both worlds.
Speaker 1:Shelley Ann was petite in size, at only 5 foot tall, weighing only 90 pounds, and was a bright and intelligent young lady. She was described by her mother in interviews as a very loving person who found the good in others, a larger-than-life personality who always lit up the room when she walked in. She liked horseback riding, loved life and people. She was bubbly and had a great personality and loved her dog and cat. Muriel said in an interview on the podcast Can I Help you Find your Loved One? Hosted by forensic artist Diane Terpkoff, that when Shelly Ann was born we were very close, going to Edmonton to go shopping together. We would go into the fields and pick wildflowers and she would dry them, and her favorite flower was daisies.
Speaker 1:Shelly Ann attended the local high school, harry Colling, in grade 9, and had just turned 16 the month prior, on April 7. She loved school and was a good student who loved learning and children so much that her goal was to be a teacher one day and children so much that her goal was to be a teacher one day. She was focused on her academics and on the last day that she was at school before she disappeared, shelly Ann was in the school library and had taken out a book that she would need for her studies. She would have shown her student library card to the school librarian and then placed it back in her coat pocket. This library card would play a vital part in identifying some of the articles of clothing and items that were discovered by the Athabasca River as belonging to Shelly, as a library card was found in the pocket of her small gray and burgundy jacket. Shelly Ann was well liked by her classmates and teachers at her high school and has always been remembered fondly by her close group of friends.
Speaker 1:The last time that Muriel saw her beautiful daughter was on the morning of Tuesday, may 3rd, as Shelly Ann and her brother Tim were heading off to school and Muriel was getting ready for work. When Shelly Ann left for school that morning, she was wearing a burgundy velour sweater. Shelly Ann left for school that morning she was wearing a burgundy velour sweater, a burgundy and gray jacket, gray sneakers, blue jeans with a stripe down the legs, a green emerald ring and opal earrings. Then at lunchtime Muriel received a phone call at work from Shelly Ann who asked her mom if she could go babysitting after school. Shelly was going to go babysit with her boyfriend at her boyfriend's brother house as the parents were going to go to a movie. Muriel said that she could, but told her daughter that she had to be home by 8 pm. Shelly Ann told her mom that she would be home by 8 pm and that she had a ride arranged. So when school let out that Tuesday afternoon at 3 pm Shelly Ann would have headed with her boyfriend to her boyfriend's brother's house at the Sunset Trailer Park, now known as the Hillcrest Trailer Park, did they walk? Did they take a school bus or get a ride? That information I don't know, as it's not mentioned in any of the reports or articles that I've researched, but we know that that's where she went.
Speaker 1:Then, at 7.45 pm that night, muriel received a phone call from Shelly Ann letting her mom know that she would be home in about 10 minutes and asked her mom if she could cook her some of the noodles that she loved. Muriel said that she would and went about cooking the noodles, expecting her 16-year-old daughter to walk into the family home soon, as the drive from where Shelly Ann was babysitting to the family home would only take between 10 to 15 minutes. Muriel had no way of knowing that that would be the last time that she would ever speak to her daughter again. At home that evening was Shelly Ann's parents, muriel and Sandy, and their son, tim, who was watching the hockey game on TV that night. The Edmonton Oilers were playing in Chicago against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 4 of the conference finals and, like many Albertans, tim would have been glued to the TV to cheer on his team.
Speaker 1:Shelly Ann lived in a rural, somewhat secluded house off Grand Cache Road, now known as Alberta Highway 40. This distance to the family home from where Shelly Ann was babysitting at the Sunset Trailer Park was about 6.5 kilometers or 4 miles, which would have taken about 10 to 15 minutes to drive or 60 to 70 minutes if a person was to walk. However, after an hour had passed, shelly Ann had still not arrived home when, at 9 pm, the house phone rang. When Muriel picked up the phone, it was Shelly Ann's boyfriend on the other end and he asked to speak to Shelly Ann. Muriel was a bit annoyed with the boyfriend, as Shelly Ann was not home yet and she thought that the boyfriend was playing a joke on her. However, very quickly the alarm bells went off in Muriel's head and she thought that the boyfriend was playing a joke on her. However, very quickly the alarm bells went off in Muriel's head and she became very worried. When the boyfriend told Muriel that the friend was not able to give Shelly Ann a ride home as previously planned and that Shelly Ann had started walking home Immediately, muriel knew that something was terribly wrong.
Speaker 1:Immediately Muriel knew that something was terribly wrong. Why would Shelly Ann walk home? It was a very long distance of about four miles. The weather that night was really bad and Muriel said in an interview that quote I knew as a mother, and we know as a family, that Shelly Ann could not have walked that far as she had rheumatoid arthritis. Shelly Ann could not have walked that far as she had rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation, swelling, pain and stiffness in multiple joints of the body. Shelly Ann knew that she had other options for a ride that evening as her brother could have picked her up as he was home that evening watching the Oilers hockey game on TV and that Muriel or her husband would have absolutely dropped everything to go pick Shelly Ann up if she had just called and asked.
Speaker 1:This is where I have to stop for a moment and dive a little deeper into what we just discussed. So let's just go back to what Muriel had just said. In that interview she said that I know as a mother, and that we know as a family, that Shelly Ann could not have walked that far as she had rheumatoid arthritis. In my research of this story, this is the first time that I've ever discovered that this is one of the main reasons that the family members were so adamant that Shelly Ann never walked home that night as she had arthritis, and this is something that I've never known. I have always been interested in this missing persons case, but for all the research that I've done, the articles that I've read, the shows that I've watched on YouTube and on TV, never once did I ever hear it mentioned that Shelly Ann had rheumatoid arthritis. It wasn't until I began to do a deep dive into writing this episode that I discovered that Shelly Ann had arthritis a very important part of this case and for me it changed the way that I view how Shelly Ann disappeared.
Speaker 1:So at this point Muriel has received a phone call from the boyfriend that the ride has fallen through and he said that Shelly Ann had walked home. Immediately Muriel knew that something was wrong. Something was just not right. Muriel immediately told her husband, sandy, and their son Tim that Shelly Ann was walking home and they set out to look for Shelly Ann. Shelly Ann's father and 17-year-old brother, tim, jumped into the truck and drove the roads and highways in and around Hinton looking for Shelly Ann, and Muriel set out on foot checking ditches and culverts along the way in case Shelly Ann was hurt, injured or possibly hit by a car.
Speaker 1:Muriel said in an interview with Dateline NBC that the wind was just awful that night, one of the windiest nights in Hinton that I can remember. The wind was howling. It pierced right through me, but I walked up and down that highway calling out her name. This part of the story absolutely breaks my heart. Knowing that, as a parent, muriel and Sandy and their son Tim were driving and walking the roads on that dark and cold night looking for Shelly Ann but couldn't find her, knowing in their hearts that something was wrong, it truly is every parent's worst nightmare.
Speaker 1:The family searched late into the night, but no matter how many times they drove up and down the highways, checking on all sides of the road, they never found Shelley Ann, and soon they began to call family and friends. Muriel called Royal Canadian Mounted Police the RCMP Hinton Detachment, royal Canadian Mounted Police the RCMP Hinton Detachment but policy at that time was that they were required to wait 24 hours before they could file a missing persons report for their only daughter. Shellyann's mother, father and her brother Tim continued to search throughout the night and began to call family and Shellyann's friends to see if they knew where Shellyann might be. In an article from 1983, one of Shellyann's friends, sue, who was Shellyann's close friend growing up, said in the interview that she remembers her house getting a call from the Bascues that night. The two teenagers hadn't spent much time together in the months leading up to the disappearance, but they were still really close, the Bascues calling that night to see if Shelly Ann was at their house or if they knew where she might be. As a parent looking for your child, you will call everybody and anybody, including all of your child's friends, to try to find them, and I can only assume that that evening that that was just one of dozens of phone calls that the family made. Sue said in that article that it's what you do, right? If your kids are late, you call the people they're most likely to be with. I remember the last time I saw her was in the hall that day at school. I went to bed thinking she would just show up, that I would just see her at school the next day and everything would be okay. Yet sadly that was not to be. For all the searching in the following days there was no sign of Shelly Ann. It was as if she had just vanished without a trace. The family was besides themselves with worry and fear.
Speaker 1:On Wednesday, may 4th, 24 hours after Shelly Ann was last seen, a missing persons report was officially filed with the RCMP, hinton Detachment. Initially, police believed Shelly Ann to be a runaway. Despite the family insisting that this was not the case, the RCMP began searching for Shelly Ann and they soon had some witness reports from people saying that they saw Shelly Ann that evening. One witness saw Shelly Ann that evening walking west on the north side of Highway 16 towards the family home. Where this witness would have allegedly seen Shelly Ann walking was on the highway in Hinton by the current day Walmart. Walking was on the highway in Hinton by the current day Walmart. The witness told police that it appeared that Shelly Ann was carrying her school books in her arms and it did not appear that she was hitchhiking. Two other people reported seeing a person getting into a van with BC license plates.
Speaker 1:From the beginning, shelly Ann's family have stated in several interviews that Shelly Ann would not have hitchhiked home as that she knew that she always had a way to get home and that at any time she could have called her parents or her brother to come pick her up, especially considering that it was such a cold and windy night. Why would she have walked home? Muriel Basco has said in many interviews over the years that the distance from Shelly Ann's boyfriend's house, where they were babysitting, to the family home was about four miles, but she said she doesn't believe her daughter would have made that trek. Also, in the May 2020 interview with NBC, muriel also said that there was no cell phones then, but Shelly Ann would have called us from the boyfriend's house for a ride. We just believe something happened to her after she called me saying she was coming home In the days and weeks after Shelly Ann's mysterious disappearance, there were multiple grid searches done of the surrounding areas for any evidence or trace of Shelly Ann.
Speaker 1:Yet this was a daunting task, as Hinton is surrounded by miles and miles of dense forest, endless lakes and powerful rivers. Just four days after Shelly Ann's disappearance, on Friday May 6th, a school assembly was held in the gym of her high school Harry Colling. 750 of Shelly Ann's fellow students, friends and classmates were brought into the gym where the then school principal, neil Anderson, told the students that the police feared the worst and that the school wanted to put out a warning to the students to be careful and remind the students, especially the girls, that they do not hitchhike. This interview with the school principal was captured in an Edmonton Journal article titled Fear Grips Hinton Girls' Fate Unknown.
Speaker 1:The RCMP were leading the search for Shellyann, but the case took a turn when, five days after Shellyann's disappearance on Saturday May 7th, some of Shellyann's personal belongings were found on the bank of the Athabasca River just off West River Road, just up the road from Shellyann's house, about a 10-minute drive away. Discovered by the river in a secluded area, was Shelly Ann's school student card, a small gray and burgundy jacket, a bra, pantyhose, a white hairbrush, a school book titled Patterns of Communications and a library book that Shelly Ann had checked out from the school library on the day that she disappeared. The items found by the river were collected and forensic testing was conducted on the clothing using the methods available in 1983, but unfortunately this did not produce any incriminating DNA results and no arrests were made by the RCMP during the investigation. While some of Shelly Ann's items were discovered scattered on the banks of the Athabasca River, there was no sign of Shelly Ann. This little bit of evidence offered a tiny bit of hope for the family.
Speaker 1:Yet in the coming days, police were quoted in the local paper with the headline stating Police fear teenager met with foul play. In the article, the police wouldn't say if they had any information, but continued to state that they were searching by land and air and trying to find out any information about the missing teenager. Someone had obviously tried to get rid of Shellyann's personal items, including her jacket, bra, pantyhose and schoolbooks, which would make anybody's mind run to the worst-case scenario. What happened in that secluded area off West River Road by the Athabasca River that evening? Was Shellyann assaulted on that dark and windy night With the person or persons who did it then trying to dispose of Shellyann's items along the banks, with the person or persons who did it then trying to dispose of Shelly Ann's items along the banks of the river or in the river. Did they also do the same to Shelly Ann by disposing of her body in the fast and icy waters of the river, which would have washed away Shelly's body and any evidence?
Speaker 1:The Athabasca River originates at the Columbian Icefields in Jasper National Park and flows more than 1,231 kilometers 765 miles before draining into the Peace-Athabasca Delta near Lake Athabasca, south of Fort Chippewan, and from there the waters continue to flow northward. The river is a fast and flowing body of water with heavy undercurrents and, sadly, if Shelly Ann's body was thrown into the river, it would have been swept away. So what happened? Was Shelly Ann attacked? Was it a sexually motivated attack that went terribly wrong, as believed by Shelly Ann's mother, with her body being dumped in the icy river? Yet for all the searching of the area that was done by the RCMP and the local search and rescue, shelly Ann was never found. Once the personal items of Shelly Ann were found by the river, this is where the case went cold, no matter how many pleas were put out by the family and the RCMP, and no matter how many grid searches were done by the volunteers, there was no trace of Shelly Ann ever discovered. She simply just vanished.
Speaker 1:The Basque's didn't expect dangers to be present in Hinton, a community of only 8,500 people, when they moved there from Brooks in 1977. And as Shelly Ann grew up in Hinton, her mother knew that her daughter was kind and good-hearted. Muriel said in an interview that Shelly Ann loved people. She trusted everyone, and I think that's what happened is that Shelly Ann was in the wrong place at the wrong time. What happened is that Shelley Ann was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Speaker 1:Muriel gave an interview in 2020 on a podcast called Can I Help you Find your Loved One, hosted by Diane Turkoff, a forensic artist. This is an absolutely amazing podcast and I highly recommend it to you and I will link it in the show notes. In doing my research, I am always trying to find all the information that I can from news sources, articles, first-hand accounts, news stories and reading all the forums. Yet this interview with Muriel really opens up things that I have never heard of before, about how the family felt and how they still feel about Shellyann's disappearance, believing that due to her rheumatoid arthritis she would never have walked home, and the belief that Shellyann either met with foul play at the home where she was babysitting or that indeed she was driven home by someone and something happened in that 15-minute drive that ended her life.
Speaker 1:In the weeks after Shellyann's disappearance the Basky family supported and loved each other during that difficult time. One very difficult decision that Hattie made after Shellyann disappeared was what to do with Shellyann's cat Dusty. Apparently the cat Dusty would just lie in Shelly Ann's bedroom and cry horribly. This must have been heartbreaking for the family to hear that the cat Dusty was feeling the loss of Shelly Ann After years of not getting any answers as to what had happened to their daughter and the daily reminders of living in a place where their daughter disappeared. The Bascue family moved away from Hinton in 1990 and settled in a nice, quiet community outside of Camrose.
Speaker 1:Muriel did return to Hinton in 1993 to take part in a search with Search and Rescue who were doing a grid search to see if they could uncover any evidence regarding Shelly Ann's disappearance. Muriel was also in town as a large missing person sign with Shelly Ann's picture on it was being erected along Highway 16. This missing person sign that is still there to this day is a daily reminder to anyone who lives in or drives through the Hinton area that Shelly Ann is still missing and is loved by her family. Shelly Ann's picture is on one side of the sign and on the right side of the sign it says Shelly Ann Bascue, missing since 1983. There is also a personal message written from Muriel on the large sign. That reads my dearest daughter, you are loved and we will desperately search for answers until we find you. Love Mom.
Speaker 1:The years that Chellianne has been missing has not taken away the belief that there is a person or persons who know what happened. Muriel has no doubt that there are people in Hinton who have information into the disappearance of her daughter. If everyone works together and forms a network, I believe that Chellian's case is solvable. She said Somebody in the town of Hinton knows something and they need to come forward. And Muriel is not alone in this belief. The Hinton RCMP also think that the truth is out there about the fate of what happened to the 16-year-old, saying in an old article that there are people out there who have intimate knowledge of this investigation and exactly what happened to Shelly Ann Bascue. It's one of those people who are going to have to come forward with their conscience kicking in some sort of moral epiphany to purge their soul. I believe there are people out there who have information that will solve the case and bring Shelly Ann home to her family. Muriel believes that her daughter never left the Sunset Trailer Park on foot, adding that even if Shelly Ann's arranged ride fell through, she had other options for rides from her family and friends.
Speaker 1:In 2010, the RCMP took another look at the Shelly Ann Bascu case in relation to the Highway of Tears. The Highway of Tears is a name given to a network of roads in northern British Columbia where more than 40 women have gone missing. Shelly Ann is the only Alberta woman listed. Shelly Ann is the only Alberta woman listed. The Highway of Tears is a 719-kilometer, 447-mile corridor of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, canada, which has been the location of crimes against many missing and murdered Indigenous women Since the 1960s. Over 40 women have gone missing or been murdered along this 719-kilometer stretch of Highway 16 between Prince Rupert and Prince George, british Columbia, known as the Highway of Tears. This same highway stretches east, passing several provincial parks into Jasper National Park that borders on the community of Hinton. Jasper National Park that borders on the community of Hinton. Shelly Ann Bascue is the only missing person's case in Alberta that is associated with the Highway of Tears For such a small community of Hinton.
Speaker 1:There have been other mysterious disappearances that also remain unsolved, including that of Stephanie Stewart, a 70-year-old woman who was working in an isolated fire lookout tower and disappeared on August 26, 2006. When co-workers could not reach Stephanie on the radio for her daily safety check-in, a co-worker went to the fire tower to check in on her and discovered that Stephanie was nowhere to be found and that it appeared that there had been a struggle inside the lookout tower. The bedsheets were missing and there was blood on the step. What happened to Stephanie Stewart still remains a mystery to this date. Yet the police have alluded in newspaper articles that foul play was suspected. Just as Stephanie Stewart could never have expected to have any danger come to her while working in the wilderness at a fire lookout tower in 2006, neither could 16-year-old Shelly Ann Bascue have suspected that trying to get home from babysitting would lead to her disappearance and believed death. Over the years there had been many skeletal remains found in and around the Hinton area, with many of them being identified and, sadly, still some unidentified. Yet, every time remains are found in and around the Hinton area, it always brings back to the surface that it could potentially be Shelley Ann or potentially one of the other individuals that are still missing.
Speaker 1:On Saturday, april 23, 2013, a group of individuals were quadding in the Sandudes in Brunel, which is a hamlet located about 20 kilometers west of Hinton, when they found a set of human remains. Before making the discovery public information, the RCMP closed off access to the area and contacted family members of a few high-profile missing person cases in the region. Two of the high-profile missing person cases were Stephanie Stewart and Lyle and Marie McCann. We spoke a few moments ago of Stephanie Stewart, the woman who was working in the fire lookout tower, who was discovered missing and foul play was suspected. Who was discovered missing and foul play was suspected. Lyle and Marie McCann, ages 77 and 78 respectively, left their St Albert home July 23, 2010, en route to British Columbia. Two days later, their burnt-out RV was found near Edson, about 86 kilometers northeast of Hinton. In 2017, travis Vader was sentenced to life for the murder of the McCanns, but sadly, to this day, their bodies have never been found.
Speaker 1:Muriel also received a phone call that evening regarding the found remains and was flooded with a mix of emotions when she was told that the remains were found in a remote area just west of Hinton. In an Edmonton Sun article about the discovery of the remains, muriel said that I've lived in hell. I've made up my mind that I'm not going to go to my grave not knowing what happened to my daughter. I have sworn to her that I will find her and bring her home. I know somebody in the town knows something, and it's time. The remains that were found near the Brunel Lake were not related to any of the missing persons cases that I have discussed. Yet, sadly, over the years, many bodies have been found in and around the Hinton area, with some of them being identified and still some unidentified. Muriel said in a 2013 Edmonton Sun article. That quote I still think about her every day, every minute. I want so badly to have her home by now, to have some type of an ending. Are we ever going to get one? We have missed so much of watching our daughter grow up.
Speaker 1:So what exactly happened to Shelly Ann that cold and windy evening on Tuesday May 3rd 1983? Did she indeed leave the house in the Sunset Trailer Park where she was babysitting with her boyfriend and walk home, only to be abducted, subsequently murdered, with some of her items being disposed near the Athabasca River, close to her home? With some of her items being disposed near the Athabasca River close to her home? Or, as Muriel believes and has said in an interview, that her daughter did indeed receive a ride home and foul play took place. Something happened on that 15-minute car ride home that caused the death of her beloved 16-year-old daughter. So at this point let's just take a step back and look at this disappearance with all the information that I have brought forth in this podcast.
Speaker 1:I broke it down into three possible theories from the research that I have done. Now I am sure that there are more theories out there than what I've come up with, but if you listeners have any of your own theories from the information that I've presented here, I would love to hear about them. Please take the time to comment about the show and about your own theories on the information that I've presented here. I would love to hear about them. Please take the time to comment about the show and about your own theories on the Facebook page. But this is what I've come up with and I've narrowed it down to three potential theories.
Speaker 1:Theory one Shellyann walked home. This is the narrative that has always been put out there about Shellyann and that is widely believed and retold in newspaper articles about this case is that Shelly Ann left the place where she was babysitting with her boyfriend in the Sunset Trailer Park and walked home. It is well noted that one person came forward as a witness to say that they saw Shelly Ann walking on the highway towards her home holding her school books and a blue binder, and that she appeared not to be hitchhiking. Two other people came forward to say that they saw a person getting into a van with BC license plates in the same area where Shelly Ann was walking or alleged to be walking. However, everything that I have read about the van with the BC license plate is that the witness never states that it was Shelly that they saw. They just saw that they saw a person getting into the van.
Speaker 1:This section of the highway is a very busy location, even back in 1983. It is right by all the stores, businesses and restaurants. Was there not anybody else who saw Shelly Ann supposedly walking that evening. With all the searches that happened, there was no other sightings of Shelly Ann and then later on that week, some of her items, including her ID, bra, jacket, pantyhose and school books, were found in an isolated area by the Athabasca River. This all leads to the belief that Shelly Ann had walked home, had been abducted and was murdered, with even the police saying in the newspaper at the time that police fear teenager met with foul play. Yet from this theory, no body has ever been discovered.
Speaker 1:If she was walking home, did she hitchhike or accept a ride? Or was she just walking and somebody stopped and offered her a ride and she accepted it? Or another possibility was that she was walking and somebody abducted her, forcing her into a vehicle. These are all the things that possibly could have happened. However, the fact that her parents have said many times that Shelly Ann would never hitchhike and for me the biggest discovery times that Shelly Ann would never hitchhike and for me the biggest discovery was that Shelly Ann had rheumatoid arthritis and her family were adamant that she would not have been able to walk that distance this, for me, puts forth a compelling argument that she did not walk home. Yet in all the newspaper articles this is the narrative that has always been presented about Shelly Ann Basky's disappearance that she left the place where she was babysitting to walk home and was on the highway and vanished.
Speaker 1:Theory 2. Shelly Ann actually did get a ride home. It is mentioned in some of the newspaper articles that people saw her walking from the trailer park where she was babysitting. So was Shelly Ann walking home or does this indicate that she was walking to meet the person who was supposed to be driving her home, like meeting the person who was picking her up at the end of the street or on the corner? I know that when I was 16, and when somebody was picking me up, I would often go to the end of the street and wait for my ride. So for me this is a plausible theory of what could have happened Because, again remember, shelly Ann had phoned her mom at 7.45 pm to say that she was on her way home and that she had a ride, and asked her mom to put on some noodles that she loved and that she would be home in about 10 or 15 minutes. To me, when Shelly Ann called her mom and told her that she would be home in about 10 or 15 minutes. To me, when Shellyann called her mom and told her that she would be home in 15 minutes, this tells me that everything was still on track. She knew that she had a ride home, but after she hung up the phone with her mom, something changed. What changed? What changed in that small amount of time? Did the person or persons actually pick up Shelly Ann? Did the person pick up Shelly Ann and did something happen on the drive back to Shelly Ann's house that caused her untimely death? Did the person or persons who picked up Shelly Ann then drive right by Shelly Ann's house, driving further up the highway, turning off onto the West River Road that led to the secluded area by the Athabasca River where Shellyann was possibly attacked and murdered, the same place where the items of her clothing were eventually found?
Speaker 1:And the biggest question that I know everyone is wondering is who was supposed to give Shellyann a ride home that night. This truly is the million-dollar question. Muriel speaks about this in the interview that she did for the podcast in 2020. When Muriel was asked the question about who was supposed to give Shellyanna Ride home that evening, muriel said in the interview that she did not want to say the name of the person who was supposed Muriel went. Again, I ask the question who are they? When I heard Muriel say this, she said exactly what I was thinking. That a lot of us who are listening to this podcast are thinking.
Speaker 1:What happened that evening just doesn't make sense. How could a young girl phone her mom to say that she was on her way home in about 10 to 15 minutes, only to disappear? To me, if I called my mom to say that I was on my way home, it would be because of two factors One, that my ride was there waiting for me, or two, I knew that my ride would be there any moment. So with this information, I fully understand Muriel's perspective. When she said that, my heart tells me that they did pick her up. They gave her a ride and something terrible happened in the car and they panicked. I always tell people to trust their gut and I believe Muriel is trusting her heart. Again, the question that I ask to those who are listening to this podcast is who are they? Who was supposed to give Shelly Ann a ride home that evening?
Speaker 1:Theory number three Shelly Ann never walked home. This combines, of course, with theory number two, that Shelly Ann never left the house where she was babysitting, as her family adamantly stayed at many times, because Shelly had rheumatoid arthritis, something that I didn't even know about until I started to do a deep dive researching this story. There was no way that she would have been able to walk the four miles to her home on such a dark and windy night. Plus, as Muriel said, shelly Ann knew that she had a ride home from her family if she needed it. Muriel has said in the interview on the podcast Can I Help you Find your Missing Loved One? That she believes that either Shelly Ann never left the trailer park where she was babysitting or something happened on the drive home that led to her death, and that somebody in the town of Hinton knows what happened to her daughter still to this day. While all of these three theories of what I think may have happened on the evening of Tuesday May 3, 1983, as to what might have happened to Shelly Ann Basku, are just that theories, speculation Me thinking out loud with you about the research that I've done. The only one thing that is for certain is that Shelly Ann is still missing and somebody knows what happened to her. The RCMP also think that the truth is out there about what happened to Shelly Ann Basku.
Speaker 1:In 2008, global News did a piece about Shellyann's disappearance and in that television piece, they interviewed Staff Sergeant Zazuluk with the RCMP Historical Homicide Unit, who said in the television interview that quote we know that someone there knows something. Someone or people are responsible for this Over the passage of time. I think this really weighs on a person and there comes a time, I think, when people want to clear their conscience and move forward in their lives, and I think now is the time for that. Shelly Ann Baskew's case fills 147 banker boxes is now in the hands of the Alberta RCMP's Historical Homicide Unit in Edmonton, alberta, which is dedicated to re-examining unsolved homicide cases. In 2010, the unit decided to take a fresh look at Shellyann's case at the request of the family. Throughout the years, they have followed up on tips, re-interviewed witnesses and had DNA samples tested. The sergeant from the unit said in a 2020 NBC interview that the DNA found at the scene belongs to an unknown individual who is considered a person of interest, but nothing has yet led authorities to Shelly Ann.
Speaker 1:Are there people still in the town of Hinton, alberta led authorities to Shelly Ann? Are there people still in the town of Hinton, alberta, that remember Shelly Ann, that remember the beautiful, bubbly, intelligent young woman who wanted to be a teacher one day? The young lady, who had just turned 16 the month prior and was focused on her education, enjoyed spending time with her parents and her brother. Are there still people in the town of Hinton who know what happened to Shelly Ann Bascue on that dark and windy night? Is the mother of Shelly Ann right in her belief when she said that quote? My heart tells me that they did pick her up and they gave her a ride, that something terrible happened in the car and they panicked. Who are they? Do they still live in the car? And they panicked. Who are they? Do they still live in the small town of Hinton and do they know what happened to Shelly Ann that night, and will they come forward with the truth? It has been 41 years of a family not knowing what happened to their only daughter. Do you know what happened to Shelly Ann Bascue? It is firmly believed that there are people out there maybe people who are listening to this very podcast who know what happened to the 16-year-old Shelly Ann. Will this person or persons do the right thing and help bring closure to a family that had been without their precious daughter for almost 41 years, a family that had been without their precious daughter for almost 41 years.
Speaker 1:The disappearance of Shelly Ann has become a haunting tragedy, not only for the Basku family but for the people of Hinton, alberta, who are still searching for answers as to what happened to the bright and intelligent teenager on the evening of Tuesday May 3, 1983. May 3, 1983, too soon. We'll never know what she could have been. She wanted to be a teacher, but she never got to graduate or marry or have children or live the life that she deserved. It was all taken from her. We have none of that, because someone made a bad choice.
Speaker 1:Muriel told Dateline that she has accepted the fact that Shelly Ann will likely not be found alive, but she still wants to know what happened. She believes that it was a sexually motivated accident that night that went terribly wrong, resulting in Shelly Ann's death. I'm not looking for justice and I don't think I'll get it. Muriel said I just want to find my daughter's remains so that I can lay her to rest and give her peace, and for us there is no such thing as closure, but there is peace. All we want is peace.
Speaker 1:If you have any information about the disappearance of Shelly Ann Bascu, please contact the Hinton RCMP at 780-865-2455, or you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-422-TIPS that's 1-800-422-8477. I would like to continue to do a more in-depth, deep dive into what happened to Shelly Ann Bascue with the people that knew her. If you knew Shellyann when she was a teenager, or if you went to high school with her, was a friend or a family friend, helped in the search for her in the days after her disappearance and would like to talk to me, please reach out to me via email through my website, hauntedcanadacom. Well, everyone, that is the end of episode 11 of Haunted Canada and I would like to sincerely thank each and every person for taking the time to listen to this podcast. If you have enjoyed this podcast, please take the time to like it and give it a five-star written review, as that always does help. Also, please take the time to follow us on Facebook, instagram and TikTok for all the updates, and remember to tell a friend about this very podcast. No-transcript.