Danielle Marissa Lynn LARUE Missing Person Case

Danielle Marissa Lynn

LARUE

47

24

67 inches

67 inches

128 lbs

128 lbs

Indigenous

Female

In the late autumn of 2002, a 24-year-old First Nations woman named Danielle Marissa Lynn LaRue vanished from the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia. The exact date of her disappearance is uncertain, but her family last had contact with her on or around November 30, 2002. Danielle, who was a member of the Shuswap First Nation, had a history of trauma, having experienced physical and sexual abuse as a child. This led to her being placed in foster care at a young age. Despite her own hardships, she was known to be protective of her younger siblings. At the age of 13, she ran away and eventually found herself in a cycle of drug use and working in the sex trade to support her addiction. By the time she disappeared, Danielle had been living in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside for five years. She was described as having a thin build, standing at 5'7", with a light but ruddy complexion and brown eyes. She had several distinguishing tattoos, including a heart and a sword on her left forearm, a cross on her right arm, a heart on her back, and black hearts on her chest. She also had a scar on her right arm and other scars on her right forearm. A chilling development in Danielle’s case came on New Year's Eve of 2002, when an anonymous letter was delivered to the Vancouver Police Department. The author of the typed letter confessed to the unintentional killing of a sex worker at the end of November. The description provided in the letter of a Caucasian-looking woman with long, black, curly hair, who was wearing jeans and a black leather jacket, and had tattoos and jewelry, led investigators to believe the victim was Danielle. In the letter, the writer expressed remorse, apologizing to the woman's family and stating a wish to take back what had happened. The author also claimed to have already left flowers at her grave and intended to do so annually. This letter remains a crucial piece of evidence in the investigation, though the identity of the writer has never been determined. The investigation into Danielle LaRue's disappearance is considered a suspected homicide by the Vancouver Police Department. Despite the anonymous letter, her body has never been found, and no crime scene has been identified. Over the years, police have made public appeals, urging the author of the letter to come forward and provide closure for Danielle's family. Her family has been left in a painful state of uncertainty, with some members holding onto the hope that she may still be alive, possibly a victim of human trafficking or having chosen to start a new life elsewhere. The case of Danielle Marissa Lynn LaRue is a heartbreaking example of the dangers faced by vulnerable individuals and is one of many unsolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. Without a body or a known killer, her case remains a poignant mystery, leaving her loved ones with unanswered questions about her fate.

Scar Right Forearm, Slash marks Scar Right Arm Tattoo Torso (Back), Heart Tattoo Chest, Black hearts Tattoo Right Forearm, Heart and sword Tattoo Right Arm, Cross

Nov 30, 2002

Vancouver

British Columbia

Vancouver Police Department ;

British Columbia

[email protected]

604-717-2530

604-717-2530

Law Enforcement

MIS 02-317457

Vancouver Police Department ;

Brown

Brown

Brown

Build: Slender/Thin; Complexion: Ruddy; Hair details: Long

No