Highway of Tears: Canada's saddest road full of missing persons and unsolved murders

Imagine you're taking a dream road trip through Canada and suddenly end up on a highway lined with signs and posters advertising missing women. Along with signs warning against hitchhiking, you might encounter this spooky scene in British Columbia, where Canada's arguably saddest road is located: the so-called "Highway of Tears."

This is the approximately 724-kilometer-long section of Yellowhead Highway 16 between the cities of Prince George and Prince Rupert. Women have been disappearing there since the 1970s. Many were proven to have been murdered, while others remain unaccounted for to this day. The term "Highway of Tears" was coined by Florence Naziel, who named the section of road that way during a vigil in 1998 to symbolize the suffering of the victims' families.

Over 80 women are said to have disappeared along the highway since the 1970s, some of whom were later found murdered. A striking number of Indigenous women are among the victims. The Canadian Encyclopedia website describes the "Highway of Tears" as part of a larger, nationwide crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

This section of the highway is located in a sparsely populated area, described as poor, and had little access to public transportation until 2017. As a result, many locals who couldn't afford their own cars had to rely on hitchhiking. To this day, women, in particular, are strongly discouraged from doing so.

The exact number of women who have disappeared or been murdered along the highway is disputed, the encyclopedia states. There is an official list from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) that lists 18 cases between 1969 and 2006. Ten of these are Indigenous women and girls. Expanding the scope to include all of northern British Columbia, Indigenous groups estimate the number to be over 40.

Gloria Moody, 27, mother of two, was murdered and never solved. Monica Ignas, 15, was murdered and unsolved. Monica Jack, 12, was murdered and solved. The list goes on. Most of the cases remain unsolved to this day. According to the international NGO Human Rights Watch, the rate of unsolved murders of Indigenous women and girls is highest in British Columbia. This applies only to Canada, but it is also a problem in other countries across the country.

To this day, signs with missing persons cases continue to appear along the highway.

Source: imago images/TT

In 2015, the Canadian government launched an investigation. That same year, Carolyn Bennet, now a Canadian minister, claimed that the number of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls across Canada was likely over 1,200. Many cases remain unsolved to this day. Poverty and isolation, sexual violence, government failure, racism, and misogyny (hatred of women) are often cited as possible reasons for this horrifically high number.

The final report of the national inquiry is over 1,000 pages long and contains twice as many witness statements and shocking findings. Ultimately, the final report refers to the murders and missing persons as "Canadian genocide."

After mounting public pressure, the government finally introduced three new bus routes along the highway in 2017, despite the fact that a shuttle service had been recommended at the "Highway of Tears" symposium more than ten years earlier.

Not only women and girls disappear along this highway, there's even the case of an entire family missing. Doreen Jack, her two sons, and her husband Ronald were on their way to a new job on the night of August 2, 1989. He called his mother around 1:30 a.m. while they were on the "Highway of Tears." Since then, no one has heard from the Jack family again.

If you want to explore Western Canada but avoid the "Highway of Tears," there are alternative routes. For example, you can choose the Sea-to-Sky route from Vancouver via Whistler, Lillooet, and Kamloops. Or you can take the Rocky Mountains route from Calgary via Banff, Jasper, and Clearwater to Kamloops. This route also explores part of Alberta.

Fortunately, if you want to avoid the Highway 16 section, there are alternatives.

Source: imago images/Wirestock

A third option is the Great Northern Circle Road from Prince George, but without the section of Highway 16. If you want to explore the region without the "Highway of Tears", you should choose the following route: Prince George → Fort St. James → Fort Nelson → Watson Lake (Yukon) → Stewart-Cassiar Highway → back via Smithers to Prince George.

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