'She’s worth it': Family continues to seek answers in Saskatoon woman's death 60 years ago
'She’s worth it': Family continues to seek answers in Saskatoon woman's death 60 years ago
Wednesday marks 60 years since the murder of Saskatoon woman Alexandra Wiwcharuk — and her family still hopes to find her killer.
“I believe it's worth it and she’s worth it and making sure that people do the right thing. People who know something. Because believe me, there are people out there who know and some of them, we know that you know,” Patty Storie told CTV News.
Storie, the niece of Wiwcharuk, was three when the 23-year-old nurse was killed.
She remembers her family’s devastation when the body was found beaten, sexually assaulted and buried in a shallow grave near the river. Storie, now living in Texas, has joined her two sisters living in different cities to keep the search alive for those responsible.
Storie is committed to the quest for justice because her grandmother and Wiwcharuk's mother, Anna Wiwcharuk, died in 1998 without any closure, which she says adds to the family’s heartache.
Storie says the family realizes the murderer may be old or even dead, but they still feel it’s important for the person to be exposed to the public and their family.
“They need to know that their loved one did this to Alexandra Wiwcharuk,” Storie said.
Each year on May 18, family and friends visit Wiwcharuk's gravesite at Woodlawn Cemetery for a memorial. Since the pandemic started, travel back to Saskatoon hasn’t been possible, but local friends Michelle Sanjenko and Jim Lucier have continued the tradition.
Saskatoon Police Service Staff Sgt. Grant Obst said they still get calls from the public with information about the death, but he can’t give any specifics about the case, which is still considered open.
“Just the fact that we’re at the anniversary date has generated at least two phone calls this morning from people who have seen this on the news,” Obst says.
Police face significant challenges with a case this old, but continue to look for clues that may solve it, he said.
“We know that many of the people that were involved or interviewed are no longer with us, but there may be somebody out there that has one little piece of information. We always hope that the bad guy is still alive and decide he doesn’t want to take this secret to his grave,” Obst said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING | Police identify Saanich, B.C., gunmen as 22-year-old twin brothers
Mounties on Vancouver Island have publicly identified the two gunmen killed during a shootout with police at a bank in Saanich on Tuesday as 22-year-old twin brothers Mathew and Isaac Auchterlonie.

'Defeated and discouraged': Airport frustrations sour Canadians' summer travel plans
CTVNews.ca asked Canadians to share their travel horror stories as cancelled flights, delays and lost luggage throw a wrench in Canadians' summer travel plans, due in part to staffing shortages at Canadian airports. Some report sleeping at airports and others say it took days to get to or from a destination.
Gas prices see long weekend drop in parts of Canada, but analysts say relief not likely to last
The Canada Day long weekend saw gas prices plummet in parts of the country, but the relief at the pumps may not stay for very long, analysts say. The decreases come after crude oil prices slid in June following the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes, sparking fears of a recession.
TD 'significantly' downgrades home sale, price forecasts
A new report from TD says Canadian home sales could fall by nearly one-quarter on average this year and remain low into 2023.
Anti-Taliban law could be tweaked to get more humanitarian aid to Afghans: minister
A law outlawing any dealings with the Taliban, which charities complain is impeding their ability to help needy Afghans, could be adjusted by the federal government to give more flexibility to aid agencies.
Biden intends to nominate a conservative, anti-abortion lawyer to federal judgeship, Kentucky Democrats say
U.S. President Joe Biden intends to nominate an anti-abortion Republican lawyer to a federal judgeship, two Kentucky Democrats informed of the decision say.
Russian forces press assault on eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk
Russian forces pounded the city of Lysychansk and its surroundings in an all-out attempt to seize the last stronghold of resistance in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk province, the governor said Saturday.
'You do not want this' virus: California man with monkeypox urges others to get vaccinated
A California man has posted a widely-shared video in an attempt to educate people about the monkeypox virus outbreak, to encourage people to get vaccinated if they're eligible and to make it very clear: 'You do not want this.'
'Ungrading': How one Ontario teacher is changing her approach to report cards
An Ontario high school teacher plans to continue with an alternative method of grading her students after an experiment last semester in which students proposed a grade and had to justify it with examples of their work.