The Murder of Monica Ignas

Monica Ignas was 14 years old when she disappeared. She was originally from Houston, British Columbia but her family moved to the Terrace area in 1973. They lived in an incorporated community off of Highway 16 called Thornhill.

Monica was last seen on the night of December 13, 1974, at around 11 pm. She was seen walking by herself along Highway 16 in the direction of her house. She was wearing a blue wool duffle coat, blue socks, and brown Wallabee-style shoes. She never made it home that night, however.

On April 6, approximately 4 months later, her body was found 6 km northeast of Terrace off of a densely-wooded services road known as Celgar. Her body was decomposed and partially clothed, and police determined that she had been strangled by her own clothing. Two witnesses also reported seeing a car containing a man and what appeared to be a small girl pull over to the side of the road the night of her disappearance. To date, no arrests have been made.

Since Monica’s death, an RCMP Task Force called E-PANA was created to investigate the series of unsolved murders along this highway, including Monica’s. The purpose of the task force was “to determine if a serial killer, or killers, is responsible for murdering young women traveling along major highways in BC” (E-PANA website). To date, however, this case still remains unsolved, as do all the cases along the highway included in E-PANA.

View more cases from the Highway of Tears.