CIRCUMSTANCES

Marie Goudreau lived at home with her family on a farm near Beaumont, Alberta. On August 2, 1976, she left a friends house around 10:30 p.m. to drive back to the farm, but never made it home.

That night, between 10:50 – 11 p.m., witnesses reported an idling truck at R.R. 24 and Township Road west of Beaumont.

Police then found Marie’s car still running and parked on an angle on Ellerslie Road. The car had been running with the lights on for over an hour with the driver’s side door open and the window partially open.

Police believe someone motioned to Marie to pull over and then abducted her leaving her purse, jacket and shoes in the car.

On August 4, 1976, Marie’s nude body was found in a water-filled ditch near Devon, Alberta. She had been raped and strangled.

Marie was working in a coffee shop at the time of her death and had aspirations to be a social worker.

Her death is among a series called The Highway Murders which police believe were perpetrated by a serial killer.

• An idling truck was seen at R.R. 24 and Township Road west of Beaumont.
• Gary McAstocker, 34, was a person of interest in Marie’s murder. He was a sex offender who killed himself in 1994. He had just been released on parole after serving an 11 year sentence for a 1982 rape, and sexual assault in 1988. He killed himself hours before he was going to meet police for questioning in the murder of 14-year-old Tina McPhee.
• Authorities think this case is could be connected to the unsolved homicides of:
  • Melissa Ann Rehorek
  • Barbara Maclean
  • Oanh Ngoc Ha
  • Pauline Brazeau
  • Tara Jane White