Death of Theresa Allore
Theresa Allore was a 19-year-old Canadian college student who disappeared on Friday, November 3, 1978 from Champlain College Lennoxville in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.[1]
Theresa Allore | |
---|---|
Theresa Allore in 1978 | |
Disappeared | Lennoxville, Quebec |
Died | November 3, 1978 (aged 19) |
Body discovered | April 13, 1979 Compton, Quebec |
Nationality | Canadian |
Known for | Unsolved death for 42 years, 3 months and 6 days |
Height | 1.66 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in) |
1978 disappearance and discovery
Theresa Allore was a 19-year-old Canadian when she disappeared in 1978.[2] Five months later, on April 13, 1979, her body was discovered in a small body of water approximately one kilometer from her dormitory residence in Compton, Quebec.[3] Upon her disappearance police initially suggested she was a runaway. When her body was discovered police then suggested that she was the possible victim of a drug overdose, perhaps with the assistance of fellow college students.[4]
2002 re-investigation
In the summer of 2002, the family of Allore enlisted the support of an investigative reporter and friend, Patricia Pearson, who produced a series of articles for Canada's National Post newspaper that presented compelling evidence that she was a victim of murder, and that her death was possibly linked to two other unsolved local cases: the death of 10-year-old Manon Dube in March 1978, and the murder of Louise Camirand in 1977.[5] The theory was supported by geographic profiler and then FBI consultant, Kim Rossmo, who suggested a serial sexual predator may have been operating in the Quebec region in the late 1970s and advised police to investigate the three deaths as a series.[5] The deaths of Allore, Dubé, and Camirand remain unsolved cold-cases.[6]
Aftermath and significance
Since 2002, Theresa's brother, John Allore – who produces the podcast, Who Killed Theresa?[7] – has continued the investigation, identifying 14 other unsolved murders from 1975 to 1981 which may be associated.[8] He successfully lobbied for the creation of a Sûreté du Québec cold case unit, which was created in 2004. Beginning in 2018, John Allore started to focus on other Quebec cases from the 1970s through the present era, cases that further suggest systemic failures in Quebec criminal justice. On January 17, 2019 the Montreal police, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal announced it was creating its own cold case squad, in large part due to the lobbying efforts of John Allore.[9]
In November 2018 John Allore was awarded the Senate of Canada’s Sesquicentennial Medal for his work in victims advocacy for “recognition of your valuable service to the nation.”[10]
The book Wish You Were Here about the unsolved murder of Theresa Allore was published by Penguin Random House Canada in September 2020.[11]
References
- "Quebec cold cases: Families of 8 dead women call for public inquiry | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
- Fudakowsky, Anna (November 16, 1978). "Allore Search Hits Dead End". Th Sherbrooke Record.
- "Dad Identifies Dead Co-Ed". The Sherbrooke Record. April 17, 1979.
- McCully, Sharon (August 19, 2002). "Family Seeks Closure in Daughter's Murder". The Sherbrooke Record.
- Pearson, Patricia (August 10, 2002). "Who Killed Theresa?". The National Post. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
- Bayly, Joanne (April 18, 2016). "Quebec cold cases: Families of 8 dead women call for public inquiry". CBC News. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- BÉRUBÉ, NICOLAS (December 29, 2018). "Meurtres non résolus: "Je ne fais plus confiance aux enquêteurs"". La Presse.
- Tripp, Rob. "Unsolved murders blamed on "incompetent" Quebec police". CanCrime. Rob Tripp.
- Renaud, Daniel (January 17, 2019). "Important redéploiement d'effectifs au SPVM". La Presse. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
- Gravenor, Kristian (January 2019). "Shining The Light On Cold Cases". Police Advocates Journal. Issue 5: 17–20.
- Allore, John. Wish you were here : a murdered girl, a brother's quest and the hunt for a serial killer. Pearson, Patricia, 1964-. Toronto. ISBN 978-0-7352-7716-8. OCLC 1147876404.
Literature
- Boisvenu, Pierre-Hugues (2008). Survivre à l'innommable et reprendre le pouvoir sur sa vie (in French). Montréal: Éditions de l'Homme. ISBN 978-2-7619-2314-9.
- Hanes, Allison (June 16, 2006). "Pattern points to serial rapist". National Post. Toronto. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
- Kim Rossmo, ed. (2009). Criminal Investigative Failures. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-4751-6. OCLC 226966553.
- Wojna, Lisa (2009). Unsolved Murders of Canada. Edmonton: Quagmire Press. ISBN 978-0-9783409-5-7.
- "Who killed Theresa?". CTV News. March 14, 2005. Archived from the original on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2010.