Murder charges laid in 1970s disappearances of two B.C. girls

NEWS/ POLICE — Murder charges have been laid in two B.C. homicide cases from the 1970s, including the death of 12-year-old Monica Jack near Merritt.

RCMP announced Monday in Surrey that 67-year-old Ontario resident Garry Taylor Handlen has been charged in the deaths of Jack and of Kathryn-Mary Herbert, who was 11 years old.

On May 6, 1978, Monica Jack was riding her bike along Highway 5A just south of Quilchena near the Nicola Ranch. Just 13 days away from her 13th birthday, she was last seen at about 7:30 p.m. that day.

When she didn’t arrive home, her mother Madeline reported her missing to Merritt RCMP. On May 7 at about 4 p.m. RCMP officers discovered Monica’s bike down an embankment between Highway 5A and Nicola Lake, about a mile south of where she lived.

It would be another 17 years before her remains were located on June 2, 1995, in a rural area north of Merritt about six kilometres from Highway 5A.

Herbert was heading to her Abbotsford home when she disappeared Sept. 24, 1975. Her mother Shari reported her missing and two months later her remains were found near Harris Road in an undeveloped area. The investigation into her death underwent extensive reviews by various police agencies over the years.

It was found that she left a friend’s house in Abbotsford around 8:30 p.m. the evening of Sept. 24, 1975. While walking home, she met another friend who “doubled” her on his bicycle part-way home until they parted company.

Monica Jack’s case was taken over by the Project E-PANA investigation in 2007 and Herbert’s by the Provincial Unsolved Homicide Unit in 2005.

Based on the Criminal Code that was in place at the time of the offences, Handlen is facing one count of first degree murder in connection with the death of Monica Jack and one count of first degree murder in connection with the death of Kathryn-Mary Herbert.

Handlen was arrested without incident in Surrey on Nov. 28. He will remain in custody and is scheduled to appear in Abbotsford Provincial Court on Monday, Dec. 8.

The road to Monday’s announcement has been long, said Supt. Ward Lymburner, officer in charge of the RCMP Special Projects Unit. In Monica Jack’s investigation alone, police reviewed over 500 investigative tasks and then initiated another 241 tasks including re-interviewing individuals and exploring new forensic analysis options, he said.

“Our efforts to bring the girls’ alleged killer to justice have been extensive and exhaustive.”

Police released a photo of Handlen around the time of the alleged offences. Police are issuing a plea to the public that if anyone has any information about Handlen, or the disappearances of Monica Jack and Kathryn-Mary Herbert, to call the TipLine at 1-877-543-4822.