On January 20th, 1983, 6-year-old Tania Murrell’s aunt Vera waited for her to walk a block and a half home from her elementary school in Edmonton, Canada for lunch. Her 5 year old brother, John, arrived alone- and Tania has never been seen or heard from again. No trace of her has ever been found- no remains, no school books, items of clothing, nothing.
She was blond with hazel eyes, and was last seen wearing a blue coat with a white fur collar, a Harley Davidson T-Shirt, green corduroys and high brown boots.
Tania’s story made national news, even being reported in the U.S. Her parents were responsible for setting up the Tania Murrell Missing Children Society, the first agency in Canada to deal with the issue of missing children. The society dissolved a few years later as Tania’s disappearance took a huge toll on her family. Her parents both developed substance abuse problems and have since passed away, as has her brother, John, who was in and out of jail many times with substance abuse problems of his own, and committed suicide by hanging himself/overdosing on methadone/both. Tania’s sister Elysia, who was born two years after her disappearance, is still alive and continues to search for her.
It has been reported that Tania left school that day and walked in the opposite direction of home, toward a 7-11- but this wasn’t reported until 30 years after Tania’s disappearance and cannot be verified.
The primary suspect in the case is a man who was a family friend of the Murrell’s. His name is not mentioned specifically in any articles about Tania in order to protect his privacy, but a reporter who worked on the case when she originally disappeared has gone as far as divulging that it starts with an L. During the initial investigation, Tania’s mother, Vivian, swore up and down that it wasn’t him and he wouldn’t have been capable of harming Tania. Family friends report that years later, she told them that she knew L killed her. He was 31 years old at the time of her disappearance and has no solid alibi. He once took Tania and her brother camping alone, and around the time of Tania’s disappearance wrote a very creepy poem about a love that could never be. After Tania disappeared, he moved away from Edmonton and had a daughter… whom he named Tania. At one point he was interrogated by police for 11 hours. At no point did he explicitly deny abducting Tania, and the takeaway line was chilling- “fuck you, you ain’t got a body.”
Tania’s sister Elysia believes that she is still alive somewhere and brainwashed, having possibly been taken by a woman who couldn’t have a child. Personally, I am all but positive that she didn’t survive the remainder of that day after leaving school, and that L was responsible for her death. Unfortunately, his current whereabouts are unknown- he may have been homeless somewhere in Canada at one point, and may no longer be alive.
via The Disappearance of Tania Murrell : UnresolvedMysteries
ALSO READ:
https://byronchristopher.org/2012/10/10/was-tania-murdered/
https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/three-decades-later-search-continues-for-tania-murrell-1.1123901
https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CrimeFiles/MissingPersons/1980to1989/TaniaMURRELL
https://edmontonsun.com/2013/01/18/30-years-later-tips-in-edmonton-case-of-missing-6-year-old-tania-murrell-becoming-very-rare/wcm/31f33c9d-9a1a-487e-8293-bb198acc390e
