By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-30 15:34:09 | Updated at 2024-10-30 23:35:03
8 hours ago
A new documentary is set to solve the case of a missing 17-year-old Canadian girl who vanished in 2009.
Jodi Henrickson, of Squamish, went missing after attending a house party on Bowen Island during the summer of 2009 and was last seen with her ex-boyfriend, with whom she had a turbulent relationship, according to CTV News.
Speculation that her ex had something to do with her disappearance has been whispered for years as he had a court order to stay away from her, but he has never been charged in connection to her disappearance.
For the last 15 years, her family has been left in limbo with her case remaining unsolved, but documentarian and director Jenni Baynham has been studying it since a friend of a friend told her about Henrickson.
'I cannot tell you how close we are,' she told CTV News. 'I could release [the film] tomorrow, based on the information we have, but there's a very specific ending that I want to this story, and I don't want to stop until we get that ending.'
Baynham - whose film company typically makes Hallmark-style productions - has spent the last four years interviewing countless family members and friends and wanted to make a film to give Henrickson's loved ones peace.
Jodi Henrickson, of Squamish, (pictured) went missing after attending a house party on Bowen Island during the summer of 2009 and was last seen with her ex-boyfriend, with whom she had a turbulent relationship
For the last 15 years, her family has been left in limbo as her case has never been solved, but documentarian and director Jenni Baynham has been studying it since a friend of a friend told her about Henrickson. (Pictured: Bowen Island)
It's also a reason she refuses to sell the documentary to major streaming services - despite generous offers - she told CTV News.
All she wanted to do was is crack open a cold case for the family, and in the process, she found a lot more information 15 years later than the initial investigation.
'Things have happened in 15 years that hadn’t happened then, so they couldn’t have uncovered what we’ve uncovered now,' she said.
She found 'more people saying strange things, more people observing weird things' than initially uncovered.
Part of the reason, she believes, is that people are older and no longer have to admit to things like underage drinking - which was prevalent on Bowen Island.
Many who witnessed seeing Henrickson at the party were teens when they were interviewed but are now in their mid-thirties and more willing to give more information than before.
She also worked with retired RCMP Officer Pete Cross, whose final assignment had been the girl's case.
Although neither have access to Henrickson's case file, Cross has been looking through his old notebooks and spoke to '30 to 40 people' who were on the island that night.
'I cannot tell you how close we are,' Baynham said. 'I could release [the film] tomorrow, based on the information we have, but there's a very specific ending that I want to this story, and I don't want to stop until we get that ending'
Bowen Island (pictured) is a tight-knit community and is protective of its reputation, according to Baynham. But she wants the community to know she isn't placing blame on them, just simply wants to 'let the audience draw their own conclusion'
'There’s a couple of genuinely brand-new pieces of information,' he told CTV News.
'The witnesses of people that were involved at the time have become 15 years older, they have evolved to now be parents, and they're spread out all over the place,' he told the outlet.
'What they recall now is different from what they recall then, they look at it from a different set of eyes, which I find interesting.'
Cross continues to send new leads to the RCMP's task force that continue to investigate the missing girl's case.
The pair have only encountered around 'two or three men' that refuse to cooperate and the filmmaker believes those men are holding back vital information.
'I really, really need those people to respond to my voicemails, my emails, my phone calls,' she told CTV News. 'It will be anonymous, but we need these people to get us across the finish line.'
Baynham - whose film company typically makes Hallmark-style productions - has spent the last four years interviewing countless family members and friends and wanted to make a film to give Henrickson's loved ones peace
The small island is a tight-knit community and is protective of its reputation, according to Baynham. But she wants the community to know she isn't placing blame on them.
Banyam just simply wants to 'let the audience draw their own conclusion.'
During her investigation, she has come across two people she considers to be suspects - one who has since passed away and one whom she has requested an interview with.
For now, Baynham and Cross know people have drawn their own conclusions - especially about Henrickson's ex-boyfriend, who had assault charges brought by his missing ex - but they say the evidence is the most important.
'People speculate all the time on this stuff, but the bottom line is, you've got to follow the evidence,' Cross told the outlet.
Until a body is found, they won't know for sure what happened to the missing teen.
