Content warning: this post contains extremely distressing details of infanticide. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised.

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Princeton, B.C. - On October 9, 1994 a boy at a campground near Princeton, B.C. discovered the bodies of twin newborn girls.

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Exactly 32 years later, the infants along with their parents have yet to be identified and no arrests and charges have been laid in a murder case that continues to baffle law enforcement in British Columbia.

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Background

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On October 9, 1994 around 7:30 P.M., a 16-year-old boy with his father at the Allison Lake Provincial Park located 30 kms (19 mi) north of Princeton B.C. were looking for a "hunting knife" that his father had lost. The boy began to retrace his and his father's footsteps to where said knife could have fallen. He made his way to an open pit toilet, perhaps thinking it may have slid out his dad's pocket. While inside, he lifted the lid on the toilet and looked into the underground pit with a flashlight. There, he made a horrific discovery that no one, let alone a young boy should have ever made: the decomposed remains of a newborn infant in a garbage bag sitting on top of human excrement. Immediately, they contacted law enforcement.

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After Police arrived on scene they confirmed what the boy found but also made another appalling find: there was actually more than 1 body in the garbage bag and discovered 2 newborn babies (twin Caucasian girls).

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Initially, RCMP Cpl. Russ Pederson stated that the "infants were dead prior to being placed in a garbage bag and thrown into men's toilet." However, as more information was eventually released by Police a grim picture about the twins' death began to emerge.

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First from an article a week later in The Province newspaper, it was revealed from the preliminary autopsy results that there was no "apparent signs of trauma, injury or disease," and had they "received proper medical attention at birth," they would have survived.

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Weeks later, in a November 25, 1994 article from reporter Pete McMartin with The Vancouver Sun, the autopsy results confirmed another disturbing fact: the twin newborns "had been alive when they were dropped into the pit," thus confirming this was a premeditated act.

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Though the exact date of their deaths wouldn't have been known at that time, B.C. death records which can be accessed 20 years after has their passing recorded as October 8, 1994 (Registration Number: 1994-09-023551 for BABY GIRL UNKNOWN B, and 1994-09-023552 for BABY GIRL UNKNOWN A).

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Investigation

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Police wasted no time in searching for clues about the identities of the twin girls and the whereabouts of their mother. Investigators working the case at the time may have also cautiously held back labeling her anything such as a suspect at that point because details surrounding her circumstance would not have been known. Cpl. Russ Pederson appealed directly to her, stating:

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>"Police are concerned about the health and well-being of the mother involved and request that she contact the RCMP or her family doctor."

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Police also asked the public if they had seen a vehicle of interest in the area, "a mid-size, dark colored station wagon" towing a boat trailer as they believed they (the station wagon's occupants) may "have seen something." However, the owners were located quickly and ruled out as to having anything related to the case.

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The next vehicle Police were looking for was "an older-model white car with boxes and a blue tarp in the back seat." A couple associated to this car were described as follows:

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• Male, white, blonde, "about 20," 5'7" (173 cm) tall and 140 lbs. (64 kgs).

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• Female, white, blond, "between 18 and 20," and 5'3" (162 cm) tall. She was also wearing a "light-colored smock shirt."

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Near the end of November 1994, Police followed up on over "100 [other] leads" but admitted the lead they could not track down was this couple and their white car.

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What made this particular lead important was the additional details Police now gave to the public: the car had round tail lights, the male was the driver, and was wearing "blue jeans and a white T-shirt with a cigarette package rolled up in the sleeve." They added that the female was the passenger and that her hair was parted in the middle. However, the most revealing details was that she was "very pregnant," and on October 4, 1994 (which would've been 5 days before the bodies were discovered) both were seen using a "roadside payphone" in Aspen Grove, B.C., a settlement located approximately 20 minutes north of the Allison Lake Provincial Park on Highway 5A. The couple were also seen arguing before heading south on the highway.

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As investigators also checked with hospitals and clinics throughout B.C. and coming up empty handed, another possibility now existed: the mother of the twins may not have received care within the province and that she may have come from either another province or even another country such as the U.S.

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A Town Left Reeling, Comes Together

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Residents in Princeton, B.C. could not just let the victims be in the hands of the coroner or the RCMP; they decided to give the newborn babies the decency they deserved with a memorial that would be held in their town.

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Local funeral parlor owner Fred Netherton donated a casket and "the use of a chapel."

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A service was held for the twins on November 24, 1994 where "40 townspeople" attended. The entire Princeton RCMP were also in attendance.

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Pastor Bob Stewart, who gave the sermon, closed it out with this message to the mother:

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>"And as a community, we say to you, 'Mom, if you ever have to, if you feel you have to, you have a place to view your children in their proper rest. And know that they were loved. That they are loved.'"

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The town council also donated the gravesite at Princeton Cemetery where the twins were interred. A granite headstone was later added after money was raised to pay for it. On it, they were known as Princeton's Twin Angels with the epitaph reading: "Always remembered."

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2017 Update

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23 years later in 2017, the RCMP gave an update on the cold case. It was still open and active, adding that they had still not been able to identify the girls or their parents to date.

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Information from multiple news articles also varied. While some made mention of the couple, it was unclear if police were ever able to identify them, or what their current status was viewed as by investigators (i.e. were they still considered persons of interest, or suspects?)

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Cpl. Dan Moskaluk also said Police were still unsure about the mother, stating:

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>“It’s never been fully determined if the mother was a victim herself or if she was involved.”

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The media also referred to the twin girls as The Princeton Angels, as opposed to Princeton's Twin Angels.

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Aftermath

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Exactly 32 years have now passed since the remains of two precious and innocent newborn twin babies were found murdered. Not only were they taken before they even had a chance to experience anything, they were discarded like nothing into a waste pit, making their untimely demise even more difficult to understand.

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9 years after the last update from the RCMP has only left us with many, many questions: Have the couple last seen in the Aspen Grove area since been identified? Do police still have a belief that the biological parents of the twins may have been from a different province or country? Was the mother involved? Or was she a victim of homicide too?

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What are your thoughts? In this day and age of genetic genealogy, will it just be a matter of time before the twins and their parents are identified, and charges laid?

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If you have any information in The Princeton Angels' case, please call contact the Princeton RCMP at 250-295-6511. If you wish to remain anonymous, please contact CRIMESTOPPERS at 1-800-222-TIPS.

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A.I. Transparency: No Large Language Models (LLMs) was used in this post.

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This post is dedicated to the memory of The Princeton Angels, found slain on this day 32 years ago.

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This post is also dedicated to the residents of Princeton, B.C. for setting the example of how a community comes together, to all the investigators who have tirelessly worked this case (and continue to do so) and to anyone else, directly or indirectly that has been affected by this senseless tragedy.

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Sources:

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The Province, 11 October 1994, Tue

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The Vancouver Sun, 12 October 1994, Wed

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The Province, 16 October 1994, Sun

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/23-years-later-rcmp-renew-calls-for-information-on-homicide-of-newborn-twins-1.4342219

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https://thenorthernview.com/2017/10/05/princeton-police-revisit-grisly-murder-of-twin-baby-girls/

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https://www.pentictonherald.ca/news/article_cbc7274c-aa1a-11e7-920d-d361a9d4a6fb.html

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https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2017/10/05/rcmp-1994-murder-newborn-twins-princeton/

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https://globalnews.ca/video/3787976/princeton-police-appeal-for-tips-in-unsolved-murder-of-twin-babies

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https://globalnews.ca/news/3787687/23-years-later-murder-of-twin-babies-near-princeton-remains-a-mystery/

Burnaby, B.C. - On June 1, 2007 18-year-old Bryan Jeffrey Braumberger disappeared shortly after meeting a friend in New Westminster, B.C. His car was later found abandoned that same day in a parking lot in Burnaby, B.C., only a couple blocks away from his home.

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Just over a month later in July 2007, the case was taken over by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, who at that time didn't necessarily believe Bryan may "have been killed," but had more resources to allocate to it than the Burnaby RCMP who handled the initial investigation.

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However, as days turned into weeks, the outlook became very grim and the likelihood Bryan was a victim of homicide far exceeded any other possibility.

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It has now been exactly 19 years since Bryan went missing and his case remains unsolved.

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Background

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Bryan Braumberger was born on August 14, 1988 to parents Ron and Janice of Burnaby, B.C.

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His older brother Trevor, was born in October of 1985.

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Details are on their early lives are limited, but during a Nurses Strike in 1989, The Province Newspaper asked various blue-collared workers if nurses should be paid close to what they're paid. Everyone responded favorably, including Bryan's father Ron, who was just 31 at the time working at a sawmill and was making $17/hour. He actually felt nurses should be paid more than him.

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>"I've been in the hospital and I've seen the work they do. They're worth it."

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By 2007, it was not mentioned in any of the media sources if Ron was still working at the sawmill. Bryan's mother, Janice was working at Westminster Savings Credit Union, though its unknown how long she held her tenure there.

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Its not known what his brother Trevor was up to around this time.

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As for Bryan, he graduated from high school a year prior in 2006 and by June 2007, was gainfully employed at a "paper warehouse company" in Coquitlam, B.C.

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Details about any extracurricular activities Bryan was involved in such as sports aren't known either, however he may have taken a keen interest in automotive.

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Disappearance

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Reporter Cheryl Chan from The Province covered this story early on. Though some of the first couple of articles had some erroneous details such as stating "Wednesday" was the last day he was seen by friends when it was actually "Thursday," (or Friday depending on which friend is being referred to) or that his car was a "1998" model year but actually "1988," it was likely because information was still coming in, and could not be corrected before the print deadline. However, the timeline from her June 11, 2007 article would now have the most up to date information and highlighted Bryan's movements 24 hours he went missing.

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On Thursday May 31, 2007 at 8:30 AM, Bryan was at work in Coquitlam, B.C. The article did not specify how long his shift was, but by 7 PM, he was having dinner at home with his brother. The article said this was the last time he was "seen or spoken to by a family member."

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After dinner, he left in his red 2-door 1988 Honda CRX towards his friend's home on Elmer St in New Westminster, B.C., just a 5 minute drive southeast.

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At 12:15 AM (and now Friday June 1, 2007) Bryan's last known confirmed sighting by someone outside of his family was when he met up with friend at a church parking lot on 8th Ave in New Westminster, B.C. (From Cheryl Chan's June 4, 2007 article, it stated that the friend chatted with him for about 10 minutes, thereby making Bryan's arrival just after midnight, and 12:15 AM the departure time).

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Bryan then told him he had to head back home as he was working early in the morning.

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Why he met this particular friend at the church and not at the friend's home he was just visiting, or even the nature of their meetup has never been revealed.

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From this point on, the details start to become hazy.

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His car, the Honda CRX was found in the George Derby Centre's parking lot. Initially, on June 8, 2007 another reporter, Jennifer Saltman from The Province said in her article the car was "found the next morning," along with "door open and headlights on."

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Kim Bolan from The Vancouver Sun didn't have a time in her article when the car was found other than mentioning "June 1" but said it was "found unlocked, with the headlights on and doors open."

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Going back to Cheryl Chan's timeline, it was reported that the RCMP found the car at "noon," which of course meant it was towed sometime after that point. And although the timeline seemed to have thorough amount of information, it surprisingly lacked details about the car and only mentioned it was found "with its headlights on."

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Both The Vancouver Sun and The Province may have also used the terms "unlocked" and "open" interchangeably.

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On Friday June 1, 2007 around 8 P.M., Bryan's parents returned home from their vacation. It was never reported where they were returning from, but one of the first things they did was check their answering machine. A message had been left that Bryan's car, a red 1988 Honda CRX had been towed from the George Derby Centre parking lot on Cumberland Street in Burnaby, B.C., just a 5 minute drive from their home on Cariboo Dr.

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Initially, there was no cause for concern. His parents said to Reporter Cheryl Chan that his car did break down "occasionally," and that it "required towing before." And, the place where his car was found was a retirement home where his Grandfather resided, suggesting he may have been visiting him.

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However, by 10 P.M., they still hadn't heard from him. Its not clear if Bryan had a cell phone, but Ron and Janice began calling around to his friends to see if they knew anything. They didn't.

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By 1:30 AM (and now Saturday June 2, 2007) his worried parents could no longer wait and filed a missing persons report with the Burnaby RCMP.

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A description of Bryan was released in case anyone saw someone matching it and to call Police: "Caucasian, six feet tall, clean shaven with brown hair and brown eyes." His last known clothing that he was wearing was "a black t-shirt, shorts and white Adidas runners with no laces."

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Family and friends searched the wooded area north of the retirement home (Cariboo Conservation Area) perhaps believing Bryan may have gone into there. That search yielded nothing.

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By June 7, 2007 it was reported that "Search and Rescue teams" along with Police also searched "five hectares of dense woods," using "search dogs and an infrared helicopter" as part of their arsenal. Unfortunately, none of it led to them getting closer to finding Bryan.

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When one looks at an aerial view of the Cariboo Conservation Area, it may not seem much especially surrounded by a densely populated area and search teams in hand, but looks can be deceiving.

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Don Seki, of Coquitlam Search and Rescue said the following to The Province:

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>"The terrain was more difficult than we imagined."

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>"There was a lot of heavy brush, high grass, swampy area and ravines."

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Police, Search and Rescue Teams and a helicopter spent the weekend again searching that area and even canvassed the area going door-to-door, but again, nothing led to Bryan.

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"Hideous, despicable act of greed"

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On June 18, 2007 the Braumbergers received a note. Thought it was not specified where, its likely that it was at their home that "demanded cash in return for information on Bryan's whereabouts." The amount was never released by Police.

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As disturbing as the note was, it gave his parents a "glimmer of hope."

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However, three days later, a 20-year-old man from Burnaby, B.C. was arrested, and formally charged with 1 count of extortion.

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Not only was he known to Police, but according to them, he also "had a connection to the family" but it was never revealed in what capacity.

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Cpl. Jane Batista of the Burnaby RCMP was not amused by what had just unfolded, calling the hoax a "hideous, despicable act of greed."

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>"We put a lot of time and energy and resources on this, and it takes away from following up on our real leads."

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IHIT Takeover

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Just over a month later, an article from Matthew Little from The Province revealed that the case was handed over to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), the Police division that is "responsible for investigating homicides, suspicious deaths, and high-risk missing persons where foul play is suspected."

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However, Cpl. Dale Carr, then media spokesperson for IHIT said just because they were now investigating Bryan's disappearance, did not immediately mean he met with foul play.

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>"We're staying with the mindset that he hasn't met with foul play and that we're going to locate him and bring him home safely."

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>"This is an active investigation - we're not just sitting and waiting for phone calls to come in."

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The article also revealed that the Braumbergers were now offering a $10,000 CAD award "for information leading to Bryan's safe return and the arrest, charge and conviction of whoever might have taken him."

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A Birthday Missed

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Just over a month later, reporter John Colebourn from The Province wrote an article that marked what should've been a joyous day was turned into a somber occasion instead: Bryan's birthday on August 14.

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His father Ron, said to The Province:

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>"The whole thing is a mystery to us. There is no history of Bryan not showing up."

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>"This is a very difficult day for us."

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Though IHIT was somewhat putting on a positive spin for the media, Cpl. Dale Carr did admit:

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>"The investigation is at a bit of a standstill."

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>"We haven't been able to substantiate he has been harmed; however, we are realists and it is in the back of our minds he may have met with foul play."

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New Information

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As bleak as the August 2007 article was, there was some new information within it that suggested robbery was not a motive: "his CDs and stereo" were still inside.

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And, even though it would not be until December of that same year, further adding credence that robbery wasn't a factor was when The Province reporter Suzanne Fournier's article stated that his driver's license was also left untouched in the glovebox.

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Cpl. Dale Carr of IHIT also confirmed that Bryan's vehicle "was seized and gone over thoroughly," but unfortunately, there was "no unusual prints, no DNA, no blood, no signs of a struggle."

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But the biggest reveal from the December 2007 article was there was a new confirmed sighting: Bryan was last seen in a parking lot "at the corner of Austin Avenue & Marmont Street in Coquitlam at 1 AM," approximately a 12 minute drive east of the George Derby Centre where his car was found.

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Finally, The Braumbergers partnered with the Missing Children Society of Canada, who "tripled the reward to $30,000" with the likely intention of motivating someone who could bring a resolution to them while also receiving a substantial payout for doing so.

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No Resolution In Sight

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Despite the information of a new sighting, along with the reward money being tripled, the case became colder and colder with years now gone by. The pain and suffering his parents were feeling every single day not knowing what happened to their son could be felt in this video when CBC News spoke with Ron on the 3rd anniversary of Bryan's disappearance, describing it as "a living hell."

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A Single, Yet Tantalizing Clue

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Please note disclaimer at bottom

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Almost 7 years later after Bryan's disappearance, reporters Kim Bolan and Mike Hager from The Vancouver Sun put together a comprehensive, multi-part investigative story that looked deep into a disturbing fact: the Lower Mainland of British Columbia was home to a large amount of unsolved homicides. Spanning from 2002 to 2013, they were able to establish that the number was over 290, a number so large it is diffcult to even understand.

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Chad Skelton, a former reporter of The Vancouver Sun, also contributed to the project with an interactive map that marked where all the unsolved murders occurred with pins. When clicking on a pin somewhere on the map, a small box would open up, and provide details such as victim's name and when they were murdered. Unfortunately, the map does not appear to work anymore.

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However, when the map was working, Bryan's name was actually listed among the victims. But the surprising part was the details within the small box: it suggested his disappearance (and in all likelihood, his murder) was linked to "organized crime."

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This was shocking for a couple of reasons. One, if there was a link to organized crime, then that would imply his disappearance was not at all random, and a criminal element was involved. And two, the usage of "organized crime" felt like it went beyond the normal "drug and/or gang related" tag we normally see; in other words, his disappearance might not have been at the hands of the gangs that battled it out at that time (Red Scorpions, Independent Soldiers, United Nations) but maybe even a level above them.

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However, in July of 2014, and just a couple of months after The Vancouver Sun's database was published, a video that was put together by Crime Stoppers and Global News seeking answers in Bryan's case had this to say within the first 20 seconds:

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>"Investigators say he didn't have criminal associations or a police record."

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Unfortunately, there has been no updates from the media or from investigators since.

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Aftermath

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It has now been 19 years since anyone has heard from Bryan Braumberger, a young man who had his whole life ahead of him. The countless sleepless nights his parents must've endured over the last 2 decades wondering what happened to their boy, is a fate so cruel, one wouldn't wish it upon their worst enemy. As the world around them has continued on, their lives have been shattered ever since that day they came back from their vacation, likely wishing they had never left in the first place if they had the slightest inkling that this was going to happen.

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A case so mysterious like this only leaves us with so many questions: what went down just after midnight when Bryan met his friend in the New Westminster church parking lot? He said he was going home because he had to work, but then is spotted over in Coquitlam 45 minutes later. By whom? And what was he doing between that timeframe of when he left New West and then seen around 1 AM? And how did his car end up where it did? Did he bring it to the retirement centre parking lot? IHIT couldn't find anything forensically suggesting someone else did, so Bryan must've. And, it may have been written somewhere that he had left his lights on by accident before, so it probably was him. But who picked him up after, and where did they go?

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One final troubling aspect to think about is, if the number of unsolved homicides sat around 290 in 2014, what is that number now in 2026? And what impact does it have on cold cases like Bryan Braumbergers?

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What are your thoughts? Can this case be solved? Is it possible someone will eventually crack and speak up?

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If you have any information regarding Bryan's case, please contact IHIT at: 1-877-551-4448 or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca. If you wish to remain anonymous, please contact CRIMESTOPPERS at 1-800-222-TIPS.

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A.I. Transparency: No LLM's (Large Language Models) was used for this post.

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This post is dedicated to the memory of Bryan Braumberger, taken away on this day 19 years ago.

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Disclaimer: Although I am confident in what I remember about The Vancouver Sun's interactive map regarding Bryan, in the event I am wrong, that section will be immediately removed and replaced with my sincerest apologies.

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Sources:

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The Province, 17 Oct 1985, Thu

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The Province, 20 Jun 1989, Tue

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The Province, 4 Jun 2007, Mon

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CBC News, 4 Jun 2007, Mon

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The Province, 7 Jun 2007, Thu

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The Province, 8 Jun 2007, Fri

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The Vancouver Sun, 8 Jun 2007, Fri

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The Province, 11 Jun 2007, Mon

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CBC News, 26 Jun 2007, Tue

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The Province, 27 Jun 2007, Wed

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CBC News, 6 Jul 2007, Fri

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The Province, 8 Jul 2007, Sun

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The Province, 15 Aug 2007, Wed

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The Province, 4 Dec 2007, Tue

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CityNews Vancouver, 1 Jun 2010, Tue

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The Vancouver Sun, 31 May 2011, Tue

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Global News, 3 Jul 2014, Thu