Marie Judy Goudreau

Marie Judy Goudreau was a vibrant 17-year-old woman with a bright future ahead of her. Having just graduated from St. Joseph’s Composite High School in Edmonton, Alberta, the young female had been accepted into Grant MacEwan College for the fall of 1976. She planned to pursue a career in law enforcement, a dream that reflected the values her family instilled in her. Her sister, Monique, remembered her as someone who loved music and sports and believed that if someone needed help, you helped them. Marie spent that summer working at the Woodward’s Café at Southgate Shopping Centre, saving money and looking forward to the next chapter of her life on the family farm near Beaumont.

The evening of August 2, 1976, began like any other. After her shift, Marie dropped a friend off at the Edmonton Industrial Airport around 9:15 p.m. and then visited two other friends at their apartment in the city. She told them she was tired from her day at work and left around 10:30 p.m. for the familiar drive home. Just half an hour later, around 11 p.m., her blue 1972 Plymouth Cricket was found abandoned on Range Road 244, a secondary road she often took, just a few miles from her family’s farm. The car’s engine was still running, its headlights were on, and the driver's-side door was wide open with the window partially rolled down.

Inside the vehicle, police found Marie's brown leather purse with money still inside, her sandals, and a mahogany-colored leather jacket folded neatly on the back seat. There were no immediate signs of a struggle, but Marie was gone. The scene was unsettlingly quiet, suggesting to investigators that she may have gotten out of her car voluntarily, perhaps to help someone or after being lured out by a person she knew. Witnesses later told police they had seen an unidentified truck idling at a nearby intersection around the time her car was stopped, but the driver of that truck was never found.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) from the Leduc detachment launched an extensive search, using aircraft, police dogs, and officers on horseback to scour the surrounding fields, but they found no trace of the missing teenager. The community’s hope turned to heartbreak two days later. On August 4, 1976, between 7 and 8 p.m., two children made a devastating discovery. They found Marie’s body face down in a water-filled ditch on a rural property near Highway 60, about 1.7 miles north of Devon in Parkland County. She was approximately 26 kilometers from where her car had been left running. An autopsy confirmed she had been strangled to death.

Investigators at the scene determined that her clothing had been removed. Most of it was found nearby, but her brown slacks, made by Montero Fashion Ind. Ltd. of Montreal, and her navy blue ankle socks were missing and have never been recovered. In the initial investigation, police pursued more than 600 leads, and more investigators were assigned to the case in the winter of 1977, hoping a fresh perspective would yield a breakthrough. Over the years, tips continued to be followed, but the case grew cold.

The investigation has been formally reviewed multiple times. In 2005, Marie’s case was examined as part of a broader look into the deaths of women whose bodies were found in rural areas surrounding Edmonton. Persons of interest were interviewed, and some items were resubmitted to the RCMP forensic lab. The Alberta RCMP’s Historical Homicide Unit reviewed the file again in 2021, noting that unidentified DNA evidence had been collected from the scene. Despite these efforts, no one has ever been charged in her murder.

Decades later, the pain of Marie’s loss remains sharp for her seven surviving siblings. "It’s a heartache — it never goes away," her sister Monique said in a 2026 interview. "Our parents have since passed and her murder remains an unsolved cold case. Marie's death is a continuing heartache and she is still very much missed." As of August 2026, 50 years after her death, Marie Goudreau's case remains an unsolved homicide. Police continue to ask for the public’s help for any information about the incident, her missing clothing, or the person or persons responsible. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Leduc RCMP at 780-980-7200 or their local police agency.