Janice Cher DESJARLAIS Missing Person Case

Janice Cher

DESJARLAIS

50

35

66 inches

66 inches

240 lbs

240 lbs

Indigenous

Female

In the early morning hours of October 1, 2010, 35-year-old Janice Cher Desjarlais, a member of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, sought refuge from the cold in a dumpster behind the Centre of Hope on Franklin Avenue in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Known to her loved ones as Jazz or Jazzy, Janice was accompanied by her boyfriend as they looked for a place to sleep for the night. The city, a hub for Canada's oil industry, can experience frigid temperatures, especially at night. Her boyfriend later recounted to authorities that he left at approximately 7:30 a.m. to get breakfast from a nearby McDonald's. When he returned about an hour later, Janice was nowhere to be found. In his absence, the large commercial dumpster they had taken shelter in had been emptied. Concern grew for Janice's welfare, and she was officially reported missing two days later, on October 3, 2010. Investigators from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Wood Buffalo began looking into her disappearance. They obtained video surveillance footage from the area which corroborated the boyfriend's account. The footage showed him leaving the dumpster alone and confirmed that no one else was seen entering or leaving it before it was serviced. At 8:22 a.m., the surveillance video captured a garbage truck emptying the contents of the dumpster into its compactor. This discovery led to the heartbreaking suspicion that Janice may have been inside when the dumpster was emptied. In response to this harrowing possibility, a massive and meticulous search effort was launched at the local landfill on October 5, 2010. For nine days, investigators painstakingly excavated an area the size of a football field, digging to a depth of two meters in the hopes of finding any trace of Janice. Despite this extensive search, nothing belonging to her was ever recovered. Janice Cher Desjarlais, described as an Indigenous female, 5'6" tall and weighing around 240 pounds with long black hair, brown eyes, and a distinctive scorpion tattoo on her right leg, has not been seen or heard from since. At the time of her disappearance, she was believed to have been wearing a black jacket with a panther logo and black pants. Her case remains a deeply sorrowful and unresolved tragedy, a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by those experiencing homelessness.

Jacket Black Pants Black Tattoo Right Leg, Scorpion

Oct 01, 2010

Fort McMurray

Alberta

Wood Buffalo RCMP

Wood Buffalo

Alberta

780-788-4040

780-788-4040

Law Enforcement

20101221217

Wood Buffalo RCMP

Black

Brown

Brown

Build: Heavy; Hair details: Long

No