Delphine Anne Nikal, a 15-year-old Wet'suwet'en girl known for her adventurous spirit and love for animals, was the youngest of five siblings. Born on a farm near Smithers, British Columbia, she faced hardship early in life. Her father passed away when she was just 11, and by 1990, her mother was in a coma at a Prince George hospital following a surgery that had gone wrong.
This left Delphine in the care of her uncle, Frank Tompkins, in the small village of Telkwa, just across the street from her family home. Despite the difficulties, she remained connected to her friends and family.
On the afternoon of June 13, 1990, around 2:00 p.m., Delphine told her uncle she was heading into the nearby town of Smithers, about 16 kilometers away, to meet up with friends. It was a common practice for residents to hitchhike between the small, spread-out communities along Highway 16, and Delphine did just that. She spent the day in Smithers with her close friend Kristal Grenkie and two other girls. That evening, she asked her friends if they wanted to have a sleepover at her house, an unusual invitation they had to decline because of school and work the next day. Around 10:00 p.m., Delphine called her uncle to let him know she was on her way home.
After the phone call, Delphine parted ways with her friends. The last time they ever saw her, she was standing in the eastbound lane of Highway 16, attempting to hitchhike back to Telkwa. She never arrived home. In the days that followed, her family reported her missing, but their concerns were initially met with suggestions from police that Delphine, who had previous minor offenses, had likely run away and would soon return. Her family vehemently disputed this, knowing she would not have left her belongings behind or her mother, who was gravely ill. They began their own desperate search, knocking on doors and driving through the region looking for any sign of her.
Delphine’s disappearance is one of a tragic series of cases involving women and girls who have been murdered or gone missing along a 725-kilometer stretch of Highway 16, notoriously known as the "Highway of Tears." Her case is officially included in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Project E-PANA, a task force established in 2005 to investigate these unsolved cases and determine if a serial killer, or killers, is responsible. Investigators have noted that the vast, remote wilderness along the highway provides a perfect setting for perpetrators to conceal their crimes.
Over the years, a few leads have emerged in Delphine's case, but none have led to a resolution. An employee at a Mohawk gas station reported seeing her get into a red sports car the night she vanished, but this information did not lead to a suspect. In 2019, a new witness came forward with information suggesting Delphine was likely picked up by someone who was leaving town. Investigators have also considered American serial killer Bobby Jack Fowler, who targeted female hitchhikers and was active in British Columbia, as a possible suspect in her disappearance, though he has never been charged.
Tragically, Delphine is not the only member of her family to have vanished. Her cousin, 15-year-old Cecilia Nikal, went missing from Vancouver the year before, in 1989. Another cousin, 19-year-old Roberta Nikal, had disappeared in 1988 near Surrey. Delphine Anne Nikal has never been found, and her case remains an active, unsolved investigation. Her family, including her sister Mary, continues to hold out hope for answers, ensuring that Delphine is remembered not as a statistic of the Highway of Tears, but as a beloved daughter, sister, and friend whose life was cut short.
