The Current - Spike in deadly crime in small B.C. town

Episode Date: October 11, 2024

Julie Hosack’s son Cole is one of several people who have gone missing in Dawson Creek, a picturesque B.C. town that has become a hotbed for drugs and violent crime. The Fifth Estate went there to investigate the sudden spike in deadly crime, and found a community on edge and deeply frustrated with the RCMP.

In 2017, it felt like drugs were everywhere in the news, so I started a podcast called On Drugs. We covered a lot of ground over two seasons, but there are still so many more stories to tell. I'm Jeff Turner, and I'm back with Season 3 of On Drugs. And this time, it's going to get personal. I don't know who Sober Jeff is. I don't even know if I like that guy.

On Drugs is available now wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is The Current Podcast. What do we do? Like, how do we make a difference? This isn't what our town was four or five years ago. The picturesque town of Dawson Creek in northern British Columbia is the start of the Alaska Highway. It's a tourist hub in summer months, but the town has also become a hotbed for drugs and violent crime,

and citizens are on edge and say they want their community back. There's always drugs here. As far as I can remember, there's been drugs here. But now the drugs are killing people. Yep. That's Brad Supernant. He is the father of one of nine people killed in Dawson Creek over the past three years. Two others have gone missing.

The CBC's Fifth Estate was in Dawson Creek this summer investigating what's going on in this once peaceful town. Mark Kelly is co-host of the Fifth Estate. He's with me in studio. Good morning. Good morning, Matt. How did you find this story? How did it or how did the story find you? Yeah, how did the story find us is exactly the case because we had

a call out to our viewers. You know, we are living in this time now with a shrinking media landscape. Local news is really bearing the brunt of that. There've been hundreds of local news outlets that have been closed down over the last few years. And we wanted to ask our viewers, what are the stories that are being lost, you know lost in this evaporating media landscape? And one of the stories that came across our desk was what was going on in Dawson Creek. I knew nothing about the situation in Dawson Creek sitting here in Toronto. So I started making phone calls, talking to people there, hearing about the murdered, hearing about the missing, hearing about the fear and frustration of people in that community as they were dealing with this wave of violent crime that was sweeping through the town.

But there was one thing that really struck me in the early days and when we arrived in Dawson Creek, Matt, was the feeling from people there that they'd been abandoned. And I think worse than that, there was a feeling that they were being ignored. And we wanted to give a voice to those concerns. We wanted to help this community on its path towards finding solutions, amplify those voices in helping them and letting them know, essentially, that they're not alone.

So once you started digging into this, what did you find about what has been going on in Dawson Creek? Yeah, I mean, to simplify it, it is drugs. I mean, drugs, that's the connective tissue that when you look at so many of the problems in this community of just over 12,000 people, a lot of it stems from the drug trade. And how's that come to be? Well, there's a lot of forces. There's been a lot of development in the oil and gas industry. There's a lot of prosperity, a lot of jobs. That's great. But what that brings with it, you get a lot of outsiders who start moving into the area. You got a lot of young men with their pockets stuffed full of cash, good paying jobs there. You know, drugs, sadly, are often not far behind that. And then when you have a market, what do you have? Well, you have a fight over that market. And that leads to the violent crime that people have seen wash through the town. And that's really gutted. It's tearing families apart. It's tearing the community apart as people start blaming each other. Are you part of the solution? Are you part of the problem? So, I mean, that's been an underlying concern there. There was a decriminalization project that BC tried and I think admittedly failed, and people will blame that as being part

of the problem as well. So it's a shift in the community. And I think it really is big city crime comes to a small town. Small town doesn't have the resources to deal with it. And people will tell you, Matt, hey, it's not only Dawson Creek. It's happening in a lot of other communities in this country. That's true. But we wanted to focus on Dawson Creek and, again, in that search for solutions. And so we heard you, it sounds like you're driving around there with Brad Supernant.

Tell us a little bit about him and what he's gone through. Yeah, so I mean, Brad, you know, he's a guy who's spent most of his life in Dawson Creek and asking him about what he's seen. And, you know, he lives with scars on the inside, scars on the outside. His daughter, when we first arrived in Dawson Creek this summer, there were four missing people. All cases suspicious, all cases seemingly unrelated. His daughter, one of them, Daryl and Supernet went missing for 15 months. His brother's daughter, Renee Supernet, she was one of the four missing as well. And we wanted to dig into those cases to find out more about what

happened to these girls and what was their story. There are two Cree women and the families were very upset, Brad being one of them, saying the RCMP is not looking for our kids. And nobody seems to care about what's happening. And that's that feeling of abandonment and feeling that they're being ignored. And that idea that people want their community back. Yeah, absolutely. And in the case with these, and while we were in Dawson Creek this summer, they would make

the discovery separately of both women, bodies that were found. And, you know, tragic story, Daryl and Supernant shot in the head and body thrown in a ditch. Renee Supernant, body found on an isolated section of a riverbed. You know, how did they get there? Why did they get there? Why did they get there? And we started to piece together little, little parts of this story to find out the role that they had witnessed a double murder that said there was retribution, concern that they would be talking. So people are talking in town,

but they're saying, hold on a second, there are no arrests. There are no charges. And that's feeding the frustration that when you've got 11 missing or murdered people and no, no arrests, no charges, that's where people are starting to feel abandoned. So you hear that frustration from Brad in your conversation. I want to bring in somebody else who is also articulating that sense of abandonment. And this comes from a very personal perspective. Her name is Julie Hossack.

Her son, Cole Hossack, is missing. Julie, good morning. Good morning, Matt. How are you today? I'm okay. How are you doing? It's been more than nine months since Cole went missing. I don't know how to answer that most days. We just get through it one day at a time. What does that look like, getting it through, getting it, you know it going and getting through it one day at a time? Well, we also have a lot more going on in our lives right now, so it seems to be overshadowed by some of that.

My partner's currently battling stage four colorectal cancer, so we are battling that as well. So I feel like we're just in survival mode, so just getting through a day and then getting to the next one and just continuing our search for Cole as we go. That's a lot. Can you tell me a little bit about Cole? Oh, I don't even know where to start. Cole's a big personality. If you were in a room with Cole, you would know he's loud, not in a bad way, but loud and has a big laugh and was kind to everybody and was just, yeah, I don't know how to explain it. And the world's greatest father. It sounds like you're smiling as you talk about him.

Yeah, I do. What was it that brought him to Dawson Creek? Well, just a little bit of a backstory. Back on October 25th, 2023, Cole and his then-girlfriend Morgan had a baby, Hendrix. He was born with significant heart defects and seven days later passed away. So on November 2nd, at that time, Morgan's family lived in Prince George and she wanted to go back and be close to family. So they decided to go that way. Cole and Morgan then were having issues.

They were both young and that's such a hard thing to navigate is losing a child. So I just, Cole was leaving Prince George to head to Medicine Hat to go start fresh. Because it wasn't, last year was a hard year for our family we not only lost Hendrix my daughter's son so Cole's sister's son passed away at 20 months old in April and then my partner was diagnosed with cancer and then Cole's baby passed away so it was just a hard year and he wanted a fresh start so he he was moving to Medicine Hat, had a job, and was going to start fresh. His girlfriend, his friend, girlfriend, not as a friend.

She's a friend. She picked him up, and she was going to drive him to Medicine Hat, and they were going to take a detour and stop in Dawson Creek because that's where Shelby was from, and she doesn't get out there to visit her family much. So she if she was out that way they were going to stop for a couple nights which is what they did and and that was it and that was it what have you learned about what might have happened to him I feel like a lot of speculation, but nothing confirmed. There was apparently a fight at the bar.

I've heard there's a video that shows Cole getting hit by a truck and put in a truck by three males. That's never been confirmed by the police, but it's been confirmed by other sources. Again, I try not to come up with my own stories in my head because that's like a rabbit hole that I can't be in. So I've been just honestly waiting for facts. I know whatever happened wasn't good. I knew that from day one because it wasn't like cold to disappear. Why did you feel like you needed to launch your own search for him?

Because the police were not. What do you mean the police were not? There was no searches done for Cole at the beginning when he went missing. Help me understand that. I mean, what did the RCMP say? They didn't know where to look. That's what they told me. They didn't know where to look? Yeah, so there was no search and rescue deployed. There was no, from what I think, from what I understand, they searched

near where the bar was because where the bar is behind it is like kind of a green space that's not utilized with railroad tracks. I think they walked down the tracks, but that's as far as it went. They also, at the beginning, because I said I was going to do a search, asked me not to. Why did they ask you not to search for your own son? Because they didn't want me to get in their way of their investigation. So at the beginning, I was told not to because when I went there on the 5th, the first place I went was to the RCMP to discover what was going on because I wanted it right from their mouths. And I said I was going to plan a search and they advised me not to.

And I let that go for, I think it was about a week. And then I was like, no, no, like I'm doing this. Like you guys are not. So why can't I? Like, you guys are not, so why can't I? And just from not knowing what to do when someone goes missing, I was introduced to some people that have done this. A wonderful lady that started the Facebook group for coal said, the police will always tell you not to search.

If you want to search, you need to go search. You've said that the RCMP is failing coal and failing the community. Absolutely. What would you want to see from them at this point? Communication. I've always had respect for the RCMP my whole life until this has transpired. There's no help for the families. The beginning with the Dawson Creek RCMP was awful,

and it was not until I called them out on Facebook, which I shouldn't have had to do because I'm already going through enough, did they start communicating with me. At one point we went 15, I can't remember how many days, I have it in a Facebook post, without them returning my calls or speaking to me. The MLA had gone to parliament with this, and then suddenly the RCMP started. In Dawson Creek, we developed a really great relationship, and then Cole's case was transferred to major crimes, which has been a nightmare since the beginning. What are the, I mean, there's a lot I'm sure that you want to know, but what are the questions that you really still want answered?

a lot, I'm sure, that you want to know, but what are the questions that you really still want answered? Well, I know they know something. And just, you know, just communication. I don't need to know everything. Obviously, it's an active investigation. I would never want to jeopardize that, because whatever's happened, I want whoever, whatever held accountable. But just communication and some, whatever held accountable. But just communication and some kind of compassion and empathy from these people. And you're doing this work for Cole, but I mentioned earlier on that there's been a number of violent crimes in Dawson Creek over the years. Do you feel like you're doing this work, I mean, not for the town, but for other people as well? Yeah, absolutely.

When Cole first went missing, the first search we did searching for Cole, and as we were doing the poster campaigns, Cole's poster was posted with Renee and Daryl Lynn's pictures everywhere. So after that, Renee's dad had contacted me and asked if it'd be okay if we did it all together because they were having a horrible time with the police, same as we were. Renee's dad had contacted me and asked if it'd be okay if we did it all together because they were having a horrible time with the police, same as we were. And so we kind of joined forces and we're all together searching for Cole and the girls and whoever else, like it wasn't whoever else was missing also at the time. So it is absolutely for everyone. Everyone I've spoken to in that town since starting this is afraid, hates what their community's turned into. I've long time residents that I talk to

on a regular basis that just want their town back to the way it used to be when they grew up. They say it was a wonderful place. And just in the last couple years, it's become a horrible place where you don't walk alone at night. You don't want your children out. And that's awful. They want their town back and you want your son back. Absolutely. You're going through a lot. And this is hard to talk about, I'm sure.

But I really do appreciate you taking the time to speak with us. Truly, good luck. And thank you very much. Thanks a lot, Matt. And thanks for sharing Cole's story and keeping it alive for us. I wish you and your family the best. Take care. Thanks.

Bye-bye. Julie Hossack is Cole Hossack's mother. Cole has been missing in Dawson Creek for more than nine months. In 2017, it felt like drugs were everywhere in the news. So I started a podcast called On Drugs. We covered a lot of ground over two seasons, but there are still so many more stories to tell. I'm Jeff Turner, and I'm back with season three of On Drugs.

And this time, it's going to get personal. I don't know who Sober Jeff is. I don't even know if I like that guy. On Drugs is available now wherever you get your podcasts. The Fifth Estate's Mark Kelly is still with me. I mean, you hear, she sounds shattered and frustrated, but she's a pretty determined person as well. She really is, Matt.

And she was one of the first people I spoke to when I was trying to figure out what's going on in this community. And, you know, she laid it out. She said, look, people are scared in this town and you got to go there and see it for yourself. And that's exactly what we did. And we went to two trips to Dawson Creek to, to meet the families of the missing and the murdered in that community. And that, and that sentiment was shared by so many people. And yes, the RCMP is on the receiving end of a lot of that frustration, again, stemming from the fact that there have been no charges, no arrests in these cases. And I think there's a sense of powerlessness there, that the police are outmanned and outgunned.

And that's also where the community feels that they need to do something to band together to fight back against the bad guys. And so you spoke with the RCMP about, I mean, what we just heard from Julie, how the community feels about their progress or lack thereof and a lack of communication. Here's a bit of that interview. Why do these people have frustration that they're trying to help the police and the police aren't listening to them?

That's the impression that they have. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Well, that's very unfortunate. It kind of blows my mind to hear that. One of the first things a conscientious investigator is going to do, Mark, is talk to the family. My teams make it a priority to speak to the families. That's Superintendent Sanjaya Wajayakun. And we fought for an interview with the RCMP. And I say that because it took us weeks to be able to get an interview. He heads the major

crimes unit for rural BC. So he's based in Surrey on the other side of the province. And this is part of the equation of frustration. She called it a nightmare dealing with major crimes. And because the detachment in Dawson Creek can't handle the number of investigations that are underway, they've been moved to the major crimes unit, which is in Prince George, and further afield there. So that's where you get the sense of detachment here, that families feel that they're not getting the updates.

They're not getting any sense of progress that's coming from the RCMP. Now, there has been a new staff sergeant that has been appointed in Dawson Creek, and families are happy, and there's been some progress on that front, on the local front. But still, they want answers to know what's going on, and they want to sense that the police are on top of this. And right now they don't have that and that's feeding their frustration. Julie said that she thinks that the RCMP knows something that they're not telling her. How close, from your understanding, how close would the RCMP be to solving these cases? Well, we were pushing the RCMP on that very question. And the furthest we got with them was to say,

I think we will have success in the near future. When is the near future? Six months. I mean, it's an arbitrary throne out there. This is a small town, Matt. When we spent there, everyone has a theory. Fingers are being pointed at certain individuals. We went to those individuals to get some answers.

And we got some, but people there are saying, like, I don't know what's going on. They know what's going on in this community. Now, one thing that the RCMP stress, and in total fairness for the RCMP in this situation, is it's not just a question of making arrests. It's arrests, charges, convictions. That's really what needs to happen there. Just throwing people in jail is not going to solve the problem because that's another concern that people have is people are being arrested for unrelated crimes and then released back into the community. So there's that frustration there that you've got a revolving door of justice. So I think that the police right now are very cognizant of that and they are working hard to find to build the strongest cases

against the suspects that they believe have been involved in these crimes. Just we're just about out of time. So let me ask you two quick things. One is in the absence of any progress that people would see, what are they doing? I said earlier that they're trying to take back their town. What are they doing to do that? Yeah, I mean, one of the things I mean, we did go out driving, we went out with a group called citizens, citizens take action. And there where you had this sense of powerlessness, you've got people who now for the past couple of years, every night, people go out on night patrols, essentially looking for trouble, you know, looking for suspicious activity to report it back to the police. Some people hail them as heroes, others

say that they're vigilantes. I don't think they're a problem, but I think they're a symptom of a problem in that community where people feel that they're losing their community. And I guess just finally, not just that community, right? This is a story I think a lot of people in small towns and small communities across this country would find some resonance in. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this is a story of small town Canada and others have said to me, look, why just focus on Dawson Creek? Because it is the story of small town Canada. It is the story of a changing landscape out there for people who love their community, want to keep their community and want to fight for their community. We wanted to bring

Dawson Creek to the national attention so that they can help find, get some solutions. We want to let them know they're not alone. It's such a great idea to ask people, what are the stories that we aren't hearing about? And then taking some of those stories and following up on them. Mark, thank you. Thanks for the platform. Mark Kelly is the co-host of CBC's The Fifth Estate. The season premieres with this episode tonight at 9pm on CBC Television, CBC Gem, and Explore. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.