In the pre-dawn hours of December 10, 2006, a man walking his dog in Gatineau Park, Quebec, made a grim discovery. Lying nearly naked and bleeding in the snow of a parking lot was 27-year-old Kelly Morrisseau, a woman of the Sagkeeng First Nation. She was seven months pregnant and a mother of three. Although still alive when found, she succumbed to her injuries, a multitude of stab wounds, shortly after arriving at the hospital.
An autopsy would later reveal that she had fought back ferociously against her attacker, leading police to believe the assailant may have been wounded during the struggle.
The investigation into her death revealed that just hours before she was found, Morrisseau was in the Vanier neighborhood of Ottawa. At approximately 4 a.m., she was seen getting into a car with a man. This individual is considered the primary suspect in her murder. Based on witness descriptions, police released a composite sketch of a man with wavy blond hair, who appeared to be in his twenties or thirties. The vehicle he was driving was believed to be a 1985 to 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera or Calais. Investigators have suggested that the suspect and Morrisseau may have met for the purpose of exchanging sexual favors and that he may have solicited other women in the area before or after the murder. After the attack, the killer is thought to have driven along a now-closed emergency road, discarding some of Morrisseau's belongings and other evidence near a local business and in a creek.
Despite the passage of many years, the murder of Kelly Morrisseau remains unsolved, and no arrests have been made. In the course of the investigation, police explored potential links to other homicides, including those committed by Marc Leduc, but DNA analysis did not connect him to Morrisseau's case. Law enforcement has made public appeals for information over the years and a significant financial reward has been offered for tips that could lead to the arrest and conviction of her killer. The case stands as a painful reminder of a life cut short, leaving behind a grieving family still searching for answers and a community hoping for a resolution to a brutal and unsolved crime.
