Vancouver police seek Seattle’s help to ID a woman found dead near an inflatable kayak in 2022, after pollen tests point to ties to Seattle or Portland.
Vancouver police are asking for the public’s help in Seattle and across the Pacific Northwest to identify a woman found dead in the water nearly four years ago, after new scientific testing suggested she may have spent her final days in Washington or Oregon.
On the night of Sept. 29, 2022, a tugboat crew called 911 after finding an unresponsive woman floating in English Bay, off a popular beach in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“A tugboat crew came across the body of a woman floating in the water, she was alone,” said Sgt. Adam Donaldson with Vancouver Police Public Affairs. “She had a kayak, an inflatable kayak with her. Some personal items, including some insulin and some gummy bears.”
The woman had no identification, and nearly four years later, no one has reported her missing.
Vancouver detectives traveled to Seattle this week, unveiling a new forensic rendering and making a direct appeal for help.
“We are here in Seattle because we need help,” Donaldson said. “We need help identifying this woman.”
Police describe her as a Black woman in her 30s to 40s, about 5-foot-7 and 175 to 200 pounds. Despite media outreach and database checks, they have found no match in Canada or through the FBI.
“I expected in the coming days that if it wasn’t a family member reporting her, it would be an employer reporting their employee didn’t show up,” Donaldson said. “But that call never came.”
Investigators say they have ruled out foul play, but the cause of death remains undetermined.
“It’s been almost four years,” said Detective Rebecca Matson with the Vancouver Police Missing Persons Unit. “We are very confident she has not been reported in B.C., we’re quite comfortable she hasn’t been reported missing in Canada. She may not have been reported missing anywhere.”
Last summer, investigators ordered pollen analysis on evidence connected to the woman and her belongings. The results suggested she may have spent her last days in the Seattle or Portland areas, where that particular type of pollen is found.
“This gave us a spark of hope,” said Sgt. Anton Schamberger with the Missing Persons Unit. “So we have an area, so that’s why we’re making an effort to come down here.”
Detectives say they are driven by the idea that someone, somewhere, knew and cared about this woman.
“She is somebody’s sister, somebody’s daughter, somebody’s friend, somebody’s co-worker,” Matson said. “There is no greater indignity in death than to not even have that death acknowledged.”
Vancouver police have released a detailed video about the case and the new rendering. They invite anyone to view and share the video on YouTube, as well as on the Vancouver Police Department’s social media accounts on X (@VancouverPD) and Instagram (@vancouverpd).
Anyone with information is asked to email [email protected] or call 604-717-0619, and to visit VPD.ca/unidentified-persons to view this and other unidentified persons cases.
To ensure diverse coverage and expert insight across a wide range of topics, our publication features contributions from multiple staff writers with varied areas of expertise.
