Aug. 2, 2021, marks the 45th anniversary of the death of Marie Judy Goudreau. Just after midnight on Aug. 3, 1976, the Leduc RCMP received a report of an abandoned vehicle on Range Road 244, about 3 miles south of Township 510 (Ellerslie Road). The abandoned vehicle was described as a blue Plymouth Cricket and was reported to have been there since around 11 p.m., Aug. 2, 1976.
Leduc RCMP attended and found the Plymouth Cricket registered to Marie's father stopped in the southbound lane of the roadway. The car's engine was running, headlights on and the driver's door ajar—with the driver's side window rolled about ¾ of the way down.
Leduc RCMP searched the vehicle and located a brown leather purse with money inside, a pair of sandals and a mahogany colored leather coat folded neatly on the back seat—all determined to belong to Marie. The officers did not see any evidence of a criminal act, but learned that Marie had not returned home.
RCMP conducted an air and ground search in the area of her vehicle utilizing police dogs and searchers on horseback. The search proved negative, and there was no indication that Marie had entered into the surrounding fields. At that time, RCMP believed Marie was stopped along the road and lured out of her car either by someone she knew or under the guise that someone required aide.
An extensive investigation commenced in an attempt to locate Marie. Police looked into her activities earlier that evening and learned that at approximately 9:15 p.m., on Aug. 2, 1976, Marie had dropped a girlfriend off at the Edmonton Industrial Airport and then traveled to visit two other friends in their apartment in Edmonton. Marie had told her girlfriends that she was tired and had to work the following morning, and left her friend's apartment at approximately 10:30 p.m., to drive home to the family farm.
At the time, Marie worked at the Woodward Café at the Southgate Shopping Centre in Edmonton, and she had been accepted to college in Edmonton for the fall of 1976.
On Aug. 4, 1976, between 7-8 p.m., Marie's body was discovered on a rural property approximately 1.7 miles north of Devon, Alta. near Highway 60 in a water-filled ditch. The area was searched extensively, and police dogs were utilized to search the scene. Subsequent to the search, police determined that Marie's brown slacks and navy blue ankle socks were missing. Those items have never been recovered.
The RCMP investigators worked through more than 600 leads and were looking into several more when in the winter of 1977, additional investigators were assigned to the case in hopes that a fresh set of eyes would yield new avenues of investigation. Again, pleas were made to the public for information in hopes for a break in the case.
Police received and investigated tips in the years that followed; however, this case remained unsolved.
In 2005, homicide investigators reviewed the Marie Goudreau case as a part of an examination of the deaths of women from the Edmonton area whose bodies had been located in the surrounding rural communities. Interviews were conducted with persons of interest, and some items were re-submitted to the RCMP forensic lab for examination; however, they did not obtain any new information that could advance the investigation.
The Alberta RCMP Historical Homicide Unit is now in the process of reviewing this case once again and will pursue any avenues of investigation that may be identified.
45 years have passed since Marie Goudreau was murdered. Leduc RCMP are asking the public's assistance for any information in relation to this incident, the missing clothing or identifying those responsible. If you have information, please contact the Leduc RCMP at 780-980-7200 or your local police agency.
Dropbox link to: photos of Marie Goudreau; video of Monique Goudreau of Val-Des-Bois, Quebec—sister of Marie Goudreau; crime scene photos; Crime Stoppers video re-enactment. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jemp7fdf7euyd32/AAA-A8vsopnD7xVDs5VovDCka?dl=0