Marie Lorna Laliberte, a woman of First Nations descent, was last seen on New Year's Day in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Born in the late 1940s, Marie had connections to Beauval, Saskatchewan, where she was from, and had also resided in Edmonton, Alberta. Her life was complex, and she was known to use a variety of aliases, including different first names like Kim Gertrude, Lorraine, and Marie Laura, and numerous surnames such as Bouvier, Cannon, and Wilkinson.
At the time of her disappearance, she was living in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. The last person known to have seen her was her resource worker. Standing at 5'6' with a thin build, Marie had short, curly brown hair and brown eyes. A distinguishing feature was a tattoo of a flower on her left shoulder.
A deeply concerning aspect of Marie's case is the significant amount of time that passed before she was officially reported as a missing person. It wasn't until March 8, 2002, over five years after she was last seen, that she was reported missing. This delay was attributed to infrequent communication with her family and what was described as a limited social life. Before she vanished, Marie was known to be struggling with drug addiction and was living what has been described as a high-risk lifestyle. Her disappearance is one of many that occurred in the Downtown Eastside during that period, a time when many vulnerable women went missing from the area.
The investigation into Marie Lorna Laliberte's disappearance has been fraught with difficulty, partly due to the late reporting and the transient nature of her life at the time. Over the years, her case has been included in discussions surrounding the numerous missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. Due to the time and location of her disappearance, there has been speculation that she may have been a victim of convicted serial killer Robert Pickton, who was active in the Vancouver area during that time. The lack of any contact or sightings of Marie since 1997 has led to the belief that she is a suspected homicide victim. Her case serves as a somber reminder of the dangers faced by marginalized women and the profound tragedy of a life that seemingly vanished without a trace, leaving behind a long and painful period of uncertainty for those who knew her.Last Seen: Jan 1, 1997
