Glenna Marie Sowan, an Indigenous woman also known to friends as "Dusty," was a daughter and a new mother at the time her life was brutally cut short. Born in High Prairie, Alberta, the 25-year-old was petite, standing five-foot-two and weighing only 92 pounds, with shoulder-length black hair. In the fall of 1988, her own daughter was just four months old and living with Glenna's mother in Alberta. Glenna had moved to Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and, like many in the area, struggled with addiction to heroin and cocaine, resorting to sex work to support her drug use. Her life was marked by recent tragedy; she was grieving the loss of her close friend, Lisa Gavin, who had been murdered only six weeks earlier.
On the afternoon of September 29, 1988, Glenna was last seen alive by her boyfriend between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. at an apartment near East 6th Avenue and St. George Street in Vancouver.
The following day, just after noon on September 30, a resident discovered her naked body discarded in an overgrown area of tall weeds and brush near West 24th Avenue and Willow Street. An autopsy would later estimate her time of death to be around 4:30 that same morning. The cause of death was determined to be ligature strangulation, and she had also suffered blunt force trauma to both of her cheeks. The clothing she had been wearing on the night she was killed was never found.
The Vancouver Police Department immediately began an investigation into the city's latest homicide. Glenna's murder bore chilling similarities to other recent cases, prompting investigators to suspect a connection. Her death, along with that of her friend Lisa Gavin and at least four other women between 1988 and 1990, became known as the "Alley Murders." The victims, many of whom were Indigenous and involved in sex work in the Downtown Eastside, were all beaten and strangled. This pattern led to the formation of a joint RCMP and VPD task force called "E-Alley" to investigate the string of killings.
Through the E-Alley investigation, authorities eventually zeroed in on a prime suspect, a man identified by some retired detectives only as "Dan." Investigators who worked on the task force have since stated they are certain this man was responsible for the murders of Glenna, Lisa, and the other women. However, the suspect died in 2007 due to poor health before he could be formally charged, and his name was never officially released to the public. Some of the original detectives have advocated for the VPD to release his name and photo to officially close the cases and bring a measure of resolution to the families.
Despite the strong suspicions of the task force, no one has ever been held legally accountable for Glenna Sowan's murder. For more than three decades, the person who took her life has evaded justice. The case remains an active and ongoing file with the Vancouver Police Department. As of March 2022, the VPD continues to profile Glenna's homicide on its cold case website, asking for the public's help. Her story, and those of the other victims of the Alley Murders, serve as a stark reminder of a violent period in Vancouver's history and the ongoing vulnerability of women in the city's Downtown Eastside.
The investigation into the death of Glenna Marie Sowan is officially unsolved. The Vancouver Police Department encourages anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward. Her family has waited decades for answers and for the person responsible for her violent death to be identified.
