Kerrie Ann Brown was 15 and a student at R.D. Parker Collegiate when she disappeared from a house party on Trout Avenue in Thompson on the night of October 16, 1986. She left the party with a friend, Nicole Zahorodny, but stayed outside when Nicole briefly went back inside for her purse; when Nicole returned, Kerrie was gone. RCMP placed her departure at about 11:45 p.m., and footprints in the snow were seen leading from the house toward the roadway.

Kerrie’s body was found on the afternoon of October 18 in an isolated area north of Thompson near a hydro transmission corridor and horse stables. She had been sexually assaulted and bludgeoned; investigators treated the case as a homicide. Witnesses reported vehicles near the body site around 1 a.m. on October 17, including descriptions of a car and a van; one van became a focus of early scrutiny but was never conclusively identified.

A Thompson man, Patrick Sumner, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder but was discharged at a February 1987 preliminary hearing. Later DNA testing excluded Sumner and showed at least two male contributors to the biological evidence, raising the possibility of multiple offenders.

If anyone knew Kerrie, attended that party, or saw vehicles or people near the hydro corridor that night, please come forward with information.