Info sought on group with possible connection to 1998 slaying of Tania Marsden

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/12/2016 (3315 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City police are asking the public for help in identifying five individuals and a vehicle believed to be associated with the 1998 killing of Tania Marsden.

Marsden was last seen celebrating her 18th birthday at the Gordon Downtowner Motor Hotel on Sept. 9, 1998. Her decomposed body was found floating in the Assiniboine River near the Perimeter Highway 20 days later. An autopsy revealed that she had been strangled and then submerged in the river with a large concrete slab. Police identified her body through fingerprints.

Police issued a search warrant at 865 Selkirk Ave. on Nov. 15 in relation to Marsden’s murder. The investigation has since led police to three males and two females who they believe could help identify Marsden’s killer. The individuals are believed to have had some contact or interaction with Marsden before her death. Police need help identifying the individuals in five composite sketches.

“They are persons of interest to us at this point in the investigation and we would like to speak to each and every one of them,” Sgt. Shawn Pike, a Project Devote team commander said at a press conference Tuesday.

Pike says the sketches represent what each individual looked like in 1998. Hairstyles may have changed and faces will have aged over the past 18 years. They could also be anywhere in Canada.

“If (someone) looks at one of those photographs and thinks, ‘well it might be that person but I’m not really sure,’ we ask that they call us anyhow, and give us an opportunity to follow it up,” Pike said.

Police are also seeking information on a white, mid-1980s four-door sedan, which could be connected to one or more of the “persons of interest.”

Pike says “any bit of information” is helpful, no matter how small.

“The family of Tania Marsden have been having to deal with this one way or the other for 18 years,” said Pike. “Think of what’s happened in your lifetime or in anyone’s lifetime in an 18-year period.

“People who do have information out there–and we know that they have information–we ask them to take the time, find the courage, think of the family out there and reach out to us at Project Devote.”

Anyone who believes they have information in regards to the sketches or the vehicle can reach Project Devote directly at 1-888-673-3316, call Manitoba Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, submit a tip online at manitobacrimestoppers.com or text TIPMAN along with a message to CRIMES (274637).

rebecca.dahl@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rebeccadaahl