Family of Alberta teen still seeking answers 50 years after her death

The family of Marie Goudreau, who was killed in 1976, is still hoping someone will come forward to give them closure.

On the 50th anniversary of the death of an Alberta teen, RCMP are putting out a call for information about her killer.

Marie Goudreau, 17, was driving home to Beaumont on Aug. 2, 1976 around 10:30 p.m. after dropping a friend off at the Edmonton Industrial Airport and visiting friends in Edmonton.

Her blue Plymouth Cricket was found abandoned and still running on a Range Road 244 south of Edmonton shortly after midnight.

Her belongings and money were also found at the scene.

At the time investigators found no evidence that she had walked into surrounding fields and concluded she had been lured away from her car.

Two days later her body was found in a rural area north of Devon, about 40 kilometres southwest of Edmonton. An autopsy determined she had been murdered.

Her brown pants and navy socks were never recovered, according to police.

Goudreau was the second youngest of eight siblings and had recently graduated high school at the time of her death.

Police are still trying to find her killer.

“Marie was our little sister, a bright, vibrant light who brought warmth, humour and endless energy into our family,” the Goudreau family said in a statement released Friday.

“The pain of that loss remains as deep today as it was then. Not a day goes by that we do not miss her presence and the future she was robbed of living.”

“Half a century later, her murder remains unsolved, leaving our family still searching for truth and justice. Somebody knows something—or suspects something.

“Even the smallest detail could help bring long-awaited answers. For our family’s sake, if you have information, please come forward. It is never too late to do the right thing.”

Investigators hope the passage of time may have changed someone’s perspective and shined a new light on past relationships or circumstances.

Anyone with information about Goudreau’s death is asked to contact the Alberta RCMP K Division Historical Homicide Unit by email at [e-mail] or their local police service.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Alex Antoneshyn