Katharina Buczek
Soon afterward, the task force uncovered evidence potentially linking Johnson to other crimes committed against women in the Halifax area. Authorities confronted him with this evidence, too, but he had already pleaded guilty to the charges in British Columbia. So, Johnson awaited his sentencing and declined to speak with investigators.
Once a British Columbia court deemed Johnson to be a dangerous offender, the Halifax task force that had been responsible for investigating him was then disbanded in May 2001. This pushed Martin to speak out about how cold cases were handled in Halifax.
But, Frank Beazley, the Chief of Police at the time, disagreed with Martin’s perspective and shared his thoughts in a 2009 interview.
“Decisions surrounding the scaling back of aspects of major files are neither made lightly nor without consultation. Mr. Martin obviously did not like the decisions that were made, but that does not translate into a given that they were wrong,” Beazley said.
Michael Wayne McGray, a convicted serial killer who claimed to have murdered 18 people, was also in the Halifax area around the time of Kimberly’s disappearance. Although, he claimed that he could not remember if the teen had been one of his victims.
So, for over 39 years, Kimberly’s case has gone unsolved. Her father, Cyril, and the rest of her family never stopped searching. But, in 2014, Cyril passed away without ever learning what really happened to his daughter.
“My dad died searching for my sister,” Kimberly’s sister, Megan, said.
According to Megan, her sister was never one to just run off. Rather, Kimberly always enjoyed having company– even while living in rural Parrsboro, Nova Scotia.
“You know, I used to make fun of her because she wouldn’t walk to downtown Parrsboro alone and would make me go with her to go get a Diet Coke. That’s not the personality of someone that has just gone off,” Megan said.
But, without any closure, the questions have continued to gnaw at Kimberly’s loved ones.
“This agony of not knowing what your grief really is. You can go with what the most likely scenario is, but without any facts, it’s not something you can focus on and accept. It’s still not real,” Megan explained.
