Leah Salina Sousa was 13 when she was murdered during a violent home invasion in Cumberland Beach, Ontario, in the early morning hours of September 1, 1990. She was sleeping on a couch in the family’s Beachview Avenue home while her mother, Lora Sousa, and nine-month-old brother Michael slept elsewhere in the house. Sometime between about 1:30 and 3:30 a.m., someone broke the glass in the rear door and entered. Lora was struck in the head with a blunt object and left unconscious; she survived but has profound memory loss for the event.

Leah was sexually assaulted, dragged into the backyard and beaten repeatedly with a heavy blunt object, dying of massive head injuries. Investigators recovered a bloody shoe impression from a Nike leather court or tennis shoe, about a men’s size 9 or 10; the weapon and the attacker’s clothing were never found. Police pursued thousands of leads and interviewed many people over the years, including Brian Timothy Elson, who denied involvement and was never charged in this case. The OPP has continued attempts at advanced forensic testing, public appeals and searches, and a reward was offered, but no one has been prosecuted.

Does anyone who lived in or near Cumberland Beach in 1990 recall anything that might help identify the person responsible?