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Good evening, I'm Antony Robart. this is crime beat the stories behind some of
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Canada's most high-profile homicides told by the reporters who walk the beat every
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day and the families demanding answers we reveal the shocking evidence as it
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was uncovered by investigators in their quest for justice tonight a bright young
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girl who was loved by her family and friends a natural leader disappears without a trace
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it's so unlike her not to not to be there... Alison parrot is four foot ten weighs 75
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pounds has blond hair and green eyes... sheer, sheer panic... it wasn't real... police believe she is
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the victim of a very well laid trap... it was a very high-profile case... we're after this guy
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and we're gonna get him here's crime beat reporter Karen Lieberman with the story of
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Alison Parrott leader of the pack at 11 years old Alison Parrott was already competing at top-level
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cross country track meets... she became good at running because she trained hard so she also
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had the determination and the self-discipline to keep at it she'd been chosen to represent
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in the 1500 meter race at an upcoming Track & Field tournament in New Jersey
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it was the summer of 1986 Alison answered a call to the family home in
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Midtown Toronto on the morning of July 25th... they wanted to have a photograph
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taken with the team that we're going to New Jersey and she called me at work and
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asked my permission we talked she had to go down to varsity stadium
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she would have had no reason to be concerned
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Alison was young but she knew her way around the city... we talked about how she would get there she
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was used to going down to varsity to train as well... she attended a called Gabrielle one a
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French elementary school downtown and took public transit every day... varsity stadium was just four
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subway stops from home ...so it wasn't unfamiliar but we went over it carefully... there weren't the kind
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of fears in the 80s that people have today and we all encouraged independence. Alison packed
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up her pink purse and blue gym bag and headed out to meet the photographer she was supposed
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to be back home that afternoon when her parents returned she wasn't there. that's so unlike her
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not to be there just intuitively felt that something serious was up. Alison always
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knew to check in this time she didn't call and didn't return home. what are the next hours like?
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I think shock panic sheer sheer panic and then the police is there and then a couple of
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people start coming round who had heard. all I can remember now is getting there and
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being there and being there as the shock of Alison not being home. Lesley Parrott's
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longtime friend Pamela McNamara remembers those initial hours. on the whole it was just it was
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like it wasn't real that's what it was like. Alison left home at 11:30 that Friday morning
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hours had passed the Sun was starting to go down darkness would soon set in
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we were all hoping quite honestly that Alison had gone to play at a friend's house and
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forgotten something we were still we were still positive on that evening. coming up where is Alison?
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welcome back after getting a call to attend a photo shoot with her track team Alison
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headed off alone to varsity Stadium nobody had heard from her since now back to Caryn
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Lieberman with Alison Parrott leader of the pack it's fall at the Parrott family farm the
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leaves are hanging on but winter will come soon... that's the cherries growing yeah so we
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think a weeping cherry oh wow the birds will love it ...Leslie Parrott's favorite season to
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follow springtime that's when a weeping cherry planted on her daughter's 21st birthday in a
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copper birch will begin to bloom... and then we have daffodils on both slopes and daffodils
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at the entranceway and yeah it's gorgeous look at all these leaves they've all just come down
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at the center of the home is a tiny rocking chair fit for a small child he was gifted to Allison on
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her first birthday the first day that Alison was born I held her in my arms I still remember
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this vividly and I looked at her and the thought that come to came to mind was she's very much her
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own person then she became a big sister a bit of a bossy big sister and you know and that's
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exactly who Alison was she was very spunky very determined filled with life all was laughing but
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she was so much her own person ... there's a twinkle in Leslie's bright blue eyes as she remembers her
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daughter's childhood... she loved her friends and she was very much a natural leader she was leader
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of the pack wherever she went she was enthusing with people she had some real natural leadership
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abilities... Alison would come in and out of my office a lot she would chat to me on the phone a
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lot Alison was very good at not breaking the rules she might try to push the boundaries but she
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would never break the rules and part of the things always to check in so we knew exactly where she
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was all the time. hours had passed still no sign of Alison police had lots of questions including
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for Alison's parents Peter and Leslie. that Friday evening both Peter and I go to the police station
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four separate questioning. both were quickly ruled out as suspects... and then that becomes a massive
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search her parents and neighbors have gathered round them say Alison is an intelligent cautious
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girl who wouldn't take up with a stranger police believe she is the victim of a very well laid trap
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somebody who was able to present themselves with such credentials that it was it became legitimate
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in her mind and in mine means we've discussed their going down and it seemed that it was right
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for her to support the team in this way... and so who is it it sort of flags to you that there was
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no photo session... nobody at all I mean other other than that we called some of the friends and we're
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you're a photo session so yes I guess some we called the coach and the coach isn't aware of
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it but none of the other girls who are going... there was never a photo shoot it was a ruse
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to get Alison alone, so who was this supposed sports photographer? police began to scour the
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neighbourhood trying to locate the missing girl... you have to keep looking and then go back and check
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and look again and until you're perfectly sure in your own mind that one area is clear and then you
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move on to the next area and follow whatever be it small whatever lead that you have have you any
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leads at this point? nothing concrete no that's the frustrating part about it tell me about the
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search the search was scary it was well-planned by friends there was a group of people that
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took maps and put people I can remember seeing a line down Yonge Street of all the people that had
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come to help and were waiting for their directions as to where to go posters went up across the city
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and police urged the public to keep a lookout... the outpouring of people of neighbors of colleagues
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and of strangers is just huge... somebody was there all the time yeah and they were there
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to either help in any way they could or go out and search or whatever... AlisonParrott 4 foot
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10 weighs 75 pounds has blonde hair and green eyes and was wearing a green shirt blue shorts
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and white shoes. that seemed particularly clear in this place that perhaps somebody had [unintelligible]
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there was something about Allison that they this person wanted... but it can wait and I think we're
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both hopeful yet distraught Leslie and Peter decided to release a video pleading for their
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daughter's safe return. if you're the person who's taking our daughter please please bring her home
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and let her come home sadly I didn't go the right way two days and then you know the police would
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been in and out all weekend and then police come and they we go upstairs and they give us the awful
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news... coming up Alison's family grapples with this horrific news and the question who did this
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welcome back for two days police searched the city for Alison she left home on July 25th after
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receiving a phone call about a photoshoot but there was no such photo session here's Caryn
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Lieberman with the story of Alison Parott leader of the pack police say two small boys discovered
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Alison parrot's body last night along the Humber River... you're grateful that you heal so quickly I
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don't know if one could have endured that period of a longer period of not knowing... police combed
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the riverbanks for any clue that might lead to Alison's killer .. we have the inner perimeter sealed
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off we're doing a very minute conferral search of that area and then we have a greater perimeter
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that were that we're doing a grid search on and so I can't comment on what we've come
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up with so far we're just really right into the meat of the search right now... tips were flooding
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in from the public there had been sightings of Alison on the subway the day she went missing
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but no description of a suspect... all it takes is one call from somebody out there and just
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the right call in that set and usually these types of cases that's how they they are broken
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two hot lines were set up for information that might lead to the killer a person who claimed
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to be a sports photographer who lured Allison from her home someone who knew she was a runner
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and had been training for an event the following week ... well we've got some information and they are
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chasing up various leads and information to get in relation to people that may have been involved
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with track lots of things but really nothing that we want to thoroughly discuss at this time
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you know what kind of person no not at this time what about these various reports of the cause of
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death chief strangulation asphyxiation what are you saying about that? what I'm saying about the
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situation police confirmed that Alison's cause of death was asphyxiation reporters pushed for
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more around that she was brutally raped? I have no response to make that the hope was
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that someone anyone had seen Alison with her abductor. outside varsity stadium pamphlets were
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handed out with Alison's picture and description and help came from unusual places I've had many
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calls yesterday from ex-cons and and they they are trying to assess they don't tolerate
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this sort of thing either... investigators began to uncover evidence police started to reveal
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the disturbing details of just what happened to Alison Parott a crime so repulsive even
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homicide detectives were rattled and plenty had more and more sickening all the time I really
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am as you know after seven years in the homicide you would think well maybe you're you can sort of
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you get hardened to it you don't get it's just I find it really revolting you think there are
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people out there there that that low that would do something like that Alison had been raped
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and strangled her naked body found facedown in King's Mill Park in the city's West End.
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I've tried not to spend a lot of time there I call it the black hole because one can never
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actually know exactly how all this went down. and so the imagination can be a wicked thing
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Alison suffered a wicked fate but who could be so evil? police reached out to the FBI
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in an effort to build a psychological profile of the killer and announced a sizeable reward
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reward of up to $50,000 for the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for
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the murder of Alison Parott but we have to find some way of triggering a response from
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the public who may inadvertently not realize that they watched or saw something going down
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as police proceeded with their investigation the parrotts prepared to bury their daughter
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just two blocks from the stadium family and friends gathered for Alison's funeral
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this is a memorial service and we have come to it and gathered here today to give thanks
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for the light of Alison Parott. outside the church dozens of police officers in uniform and plain clothes
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scan the crowd should the killer be among them. a quality of her spirit he is reflected in her
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conduct the night before she was violated a dear friend and neighbor had lost their
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family pet dog and Alison took it upon herself to prepare and distribute pamphlets seeking that
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wee dog just 24 hours later posters would be distributed seeking and missing out.
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family came from everywhere... my company flew in my parents my brother and Peter's nephew from
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Australia one of the many in attendance Janet Jessup the mother of a nine year old girl who
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was murdered under similar circumstances almost two years before... well it certainly has brought
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a lot of memories back for the three of us and it was a beautiful service and we certainly know
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where mr. and mrs. Parrott are at I've just had a few words with both of them and I hope you know
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we're going to help each other because it has to be thought them home as mourners left the
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service and police pressed on hours turned into days days turned into weeks it still no arrests
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my husband had gone back to work sitting alone at home by myself all day I couldn't imagine anything more
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terrible you know just left with my my own thoughts. Leslie returned to work desperate
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for a distraction. I went back to work and walking around the office and saying hello to everybody
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it was always important to me that the person be found it was not gonna bring Alison back but it
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was critically important so there wouldn't be any more Allison's I was called at home by the
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one of the lead homicide investigators then Staff Sergeant Kenson zarur and asked if I would join
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a task force so I went for what was to be two weeks we felt we would have a resolution very
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quickly two weeks became one year... Steve Irwin now an inspector with the Toronto Police Service then
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rookie just four years out of police college he was the most junior on the homicide team. it
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was a very high-profile case. police received more public response to the Perrott case than any other
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murder investigation before it and they had a new tool to help and a very sophisticated new
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computer system to find the person who abducted Alison from her home on July 25th the computer
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program was designed to sift through hundreds of tips that police had received while it wouldn't
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identify who the abductor was it would save time for investigators narrowing down the suspects the
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retrieval of information is much quicker Irwin responded to countless calls from the public he
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recalls one in particular from a woman who would become a witness and this woman was with her two
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children one of them was a daughter who was about the same age what was very interesting in that
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particular call was she was challenged that the poster didn't represent what she recalled Alison
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wearing which was actually accurate there was some misinformation on the original poster in
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the color of the shirt I was significant which gave that particular witness more credibility
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and that helped us with timing for when Alison actually got on the subway because this woman
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who I eventually interviewed months later had kept the transfer ticket from when she got on
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at York Mills so that really helped us to track the path and steps that Alison had taken. Alison
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could have been abducted anywhere on route to varsity stadium so these types of tips
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were significant in the investigation one that would prove complicated even in simpler times
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we didn't have a lot of surveillance cameras we didn't have DNA it was so unusual for this type
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of luring abduction sexual assault and murder there was a belief that we should be able to
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solve this much quicker and obviously we were not able to it became more and more challenging
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information suggested Allison met her killer on the northwest corner of varsity Stadium across the
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street from a Royal Bank which was equipped with three surveillance cameras. one was not working
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the other one had been opened when it was reloaded with old film and was overexposed and then there
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was a third film that caught what we believe is the image of Alison that was walking by. it
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was a breakthrough in the case a single image in black and white no head feet barely visible
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but Owen wanted more colorization had just come out within a few years of 1986 where they took
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old black-and-white movies and colourized them so I actually reached out that was a company
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here in Toronto and reached out to them to say so if I gave you a palette of colors could you
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give me a sense of what colors even though it's a black and whites film in an effort
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again to try and substantiate that that was in fact was Alison? confirmation Alison had made
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it to the stadium so who did she meet up with ? next a suspect and a first-degree murder charge
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investigators have confirmed that Alison did arrive at the stadium they must now determine
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what happened next we looked in the neighborhood we looked obviously in the area of varsity stadium
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we looked at people associated to her school at the running club that she was part of we looked
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at track meets that she had been at and looked for other victims young young girls mostly that had
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been pursued by what I would say was potential sex offenders and so there were many many many
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different angles that we were looking at in this particular case with her there were so
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many potential places that this person could have come across for her. Alison's killer had
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done more than just come across her. he likely first spotted her at the stadium he tracked her
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for weeks we canvassed and found other Parrotts it's felt their name in the same way who had got
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calls looking for Alison. and they stretched beyond Toronto proper. it was January 1987 investigators
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were honing in on a man who spoke with her weeks before her murder. on June the 7th 1986 at the
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Appleton Cup which was held at York University at a track meet where Alison was a participant
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a male in the only description we have is he's a male white 30 or 35 years of age dressed in
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a tracksuit came up and had some conversation with her and this was around lunchtime. the path
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the killer took was becoming clearer it was one of the largest murder investigations in Canada
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but with dwindling resources the task force had been reduced to a handful of officers soon Steve
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Irwin would become a permanent investigator in the newly formed sexual assault squad put in place to
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solve the case of the unknown Scarborough rapist a man who had been preying on dozens of women in
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a suburb of Toronto it would be DNA brand-new to Canada that would crack that high-profile
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case eventually DNA was what identified Paul Bernardo in the Scarborough rape case as that
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was now he was before the courts and charged I actually asked to leave sexual assault to go work
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at intelligence and it was so that I could work for one of those original homicide investigators
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and get out the exhibits from Alison's [unintelligible] submit them to send our friends at Sciences and
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see if we could develop a DNA profile it was the success of DNA in the Bernardo case but center
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wing digging into other unsolved murders that had been sexually motivated cases from his time on the
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Homicide Squad like Alison Parrott. I say I did hate crimes by day and blood ins by night as we started
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to collect samples so that we could have DNA for in Alison's case. with Alison's case it was not a
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great sample that we had basically it would take two weeks for each level to process so the first
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level we got helped us in that we could start to eliminate people two weeks later we get the
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second level and that meant we could eliminate more people two weeks later the third level then
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gave us the opportunity to start to actually identify who it would be the fourth level start
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to make it mathematically that you were had the right person the fifth is the maximum and in her
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case we got actually all five from a very very small sample it meant every two weeks a large
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pool of possible suspects would become smaller we could start to say to Leslie and Peter Parrott
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hey we can eliminate some of these people which we did and they might not have to have in the back of
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their mind wondering if it was someone a neighbour or an old friend or someone from the sports club
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of parents of another child and start to answer unanswered questions. Irwin was desperate to find
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Alison's killer for him it was personal if Dad had been killed in Jury and he was really determined
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and I think he had a lot of empathy for our son as well having been through something very similar in
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his life he would continue to pursue the question that had been haunting the Parotts for years by
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that point who killed Alison as her family waited for answers at an arrest almost 10 years had
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passed. every year it doesn't get any easier the the time leading up to today is very difficult
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and then I become totally preoccupied and but that's that's nothing compared to what she went
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through. Leslie pleaded just like the day after her daughter disappeared look into your heart look at
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how you would feel if the person that that you have the tiniest suspicions about were ever to
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hurt another child Alison's family had a reason to hold out hope police were finally getting
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closer this individual certainly left us with a fair number of clues about him and what he knew
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of Alison and certainly with modern technology the development of DNA is is definitely an asset to us
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ten long years of waiting the break everyone had been waiting for. we had a call at 7:30 or
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so in the morning saying that the police wanted to come round right away and we of course we're
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getting ready to go to work but it seemed like we shouldn't go to work they come around and
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they tell us that there is an arrest happening at that time. Frances Roy covered his head with his
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suit jacket as he was driven to the downtown courthouse the appearance by the ponytailed
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suspect lasted less than a minute outside Frances Karl Roy's West End home well I was
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stunned I was just absolutely stunned ... I saw him all the time it's like who's one of our
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neighbors who's to walk around walk his dog go for a jog at the courthouse this request from
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Roy's lawyer all I'd ask is that the media and the public remember he's charged he's not convicted
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keep that distinction in mind remember that he's presumed innocent and asked you to to wait before
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you form any judgments Frances Karl Roy charged with the first-degree murder of Alison Parrott
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I think there was a sense of relief and I don't know if immediately but it's know what next the
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trial the trial and the you know the trial actually didn't happen for another three years.
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coming up a disturbing story from the man charged with Alison's murder
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ten years after Alison was murdered the trial finally gets underway and Alison's
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story inspires a generation of children now back to Caryn Lieberman with the conclusion of Alison
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parot leader of the pack so who was this man now charged with Alison's murder? he had come to our
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attention he had a history of sex offenses convicted sex offender had gone out west the
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RCMP had reached into us as he came up in some investigations there they sort of knocked on
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the door and said hey you know he's still out here have you looked at him information from
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those cases was added to a new computer system which allows police across the country to share
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data about violent crime investigations at that point the case was turned over to homicide they
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did get a cast off something he touched for two weeks police had waited for an opportunity to get
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that cast off a sample of Roy's DNA and that was what was the beginning of identifying him
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the critical piece of evidence would be a discarded cigarette butt as police tested the
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DNA and gathered their final bits of evidence Alison's family struggled just to get through
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each day there were times that I felt life was not worth living I remember one Sunday
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afternoon crawling into my bed and weeping because I never I always was quite careful
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not to do it around around our son and he came with like a little honing device and found me
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and said I'm so sorry never wanted to you to see me like this and he said it's okay you're a mom
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I understand and he more than anyone else was the absolute reason to keep going from whatever
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it cost me the midst of all this evil you know love kept shining through and and that's what
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that's really what kept me going 13 years since Alison's murder the Parrotts begin to relive the
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horror of her death as the trial for Francis Karl Roy begins that was the first time we thought of
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the perpetrator the court heard Roy was a shop clerk also a runner some recall him carrying
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the camera he pleaded not guilty to Alison's murder making a shocking claim to explain the
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DNA evidence found in her body which matched his semen.
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he said he came across the young girl's body
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in King's Mill Park while out for a jog he stopped to urinate he claimed there had been semen on his
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hand having masturbated earlier that day and when he saw the corpse he violated it with his
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finger this is what Francis Troy looked like 13 years ago when 11 year old Alison Parrott was lured
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from her home raped and murdered Roy's testimony wasn't the only element of doubt presented billow
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and a wheeled trans driver with the TTC the defense brought forth three witnesses who told
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the court they had all seen a girl who might have been Alison with a man who did not match
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Roy's description the jury listened for days but there was something jurors did not hear the judge
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decided that what we call similar fact evidence in this case that though he had raped two young
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women before and one was there to testify that that evidence should not be allowed into the
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court to this day I'm still baffled right somebody should be standing in the prisoners box without a
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jury under able to understand the truth about that person not only as Alison's mum but as a
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member of our society hey I feel very ashamed and angry . Francis Karl Roy had been on parole at the
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time of Alice's murder he had been convicted twice for raping teenage girls he had lured
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away from public places with stories that seemed credible. the assaults happened in wooded areas
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it was hard to ignore the similarities with Alison's case. sadly the justice system failed
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to protect Alison in the first place there were convictions that were reduced there
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was parole that was reduced and not well supervised the Parrotts pleaded for change
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but the law remained the same if evidence of a prior conviction could do more to prejudice
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and accuse persons right to a fair trial the judge can exclude it juries are there
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as representatives of common sense and common sense when a similar crime has been committed
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before it's only common sense that that makes part of a why that person should be guilty
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despite the seeds of doubt the jury did not believe Roy's defense after six excruciating
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days of deliberations the jury convicted 41 year-old Frances Carl Roy of first-degree
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murder in Allison's death sentenced to life in prison no chance of parole for 25 years
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Leslie remembers vividly the day the decision was handed down but she recalls it mattered less to
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her nothing would bring her back so yes I was tremendously pleased that justice had been done
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I was not elated like everyone else because I still left with the hugest hole in my heart and
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so the there was no joy in what would be her last time before the crush of cameras Leslie took the
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focus off the now convicted killer and placed it back on her Alison but Alison was one of
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these people that had the ability to make a huge difference in this world it is only so sad that
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that deference has to be made in her death and not in her life the leaves are falling from the
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trees at the parot family farm life is peaceful quiet there are reminders of Alison frozen in
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time an 11-year old girl a lover of life a friend a big sister a runner a child who liked to laugh
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a daughter whose absence is always present never far away she's marked by the trees in the garden
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but four years oh there's one tree a copper birch the on the first
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anniversary of Alison's death neighbors and friends got together and planted a
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tree and then another tree that is a weeping cherry in the middle of the garden that we
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planted on her what would have been her 21st birthday so they're both quite mature trees
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once a cottage to visit on holidays and weekends Leslie now spends most of her
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time with her husband Peter up at the farm alison is everywhere the tiny rocking chair
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the pictures on the walls the trees marking her life for decades Leslie has lived with
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grief she has used her own experience of losing a daughter to help others the first thing is to
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honor her people are filling themselves Leslie offers support through her longtime role at the
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bereaved families of Ontario there is no closure of losing a job because there's no
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closure of love you know she could work out the right thing to say to have someone's life get
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better Pamela remains a close friend and I can't really think of anything better to say about a
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person she helped and helped anyone and everyone I love when I talked to Leslie and I've talked
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to her recently I tend to speak to her absolutely communicate every July 25th they've got you know
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their lovely grandchildren but then there's this piece that's trapped in time that will never it
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never moves and you wonder you know what their lives would have been and what would have come
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what is Alison's legacy for me being able to help other people as an incredibly important
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part of Alison's legacy it's all about love the whole thing of helping kids be confident and be
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aware and be alert out in the world that again it's another bit of how Alison lives on working
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for a large ad agency my colleagues they want you to do something you know things aren't always as
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they appear they wanted to use the skills to help prevent future you know any future crimes like
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this a national street proofing campaign born out of Alison's death what should you do if someone
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stops to talk or ask directions we were able to educate kids right across the country working
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with police forces so you've always got to be on your toes with a message meant to empower
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children not to scare them rather to teach them and provide important tools one of the things
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that I'm really sad about is that sometimes people have said well Alison was that mark that moment
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that it was no longer to run till the good heard her murder caused kids to be kept at home and not
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out in the streets and and taking away some of the independence of childhood and I think frankly
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that's wrong yes you need to have kids be kids be safe hey but you need to help kids grow up and
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to be independent and what happened with Alison for a stranger abduction it's so incredibly rare
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more than anything I want people to remember she was a spunky beautiful determined happy
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happy child who was so loved loved by a mom loved by your dad loved by brother loved by
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her friends and until that fateful day she'd had the best life a kid could have
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in 2021 it will have been 35 years since Alison Parrott was killed Francis Karl Roy will be up
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for parole Alison's family is preparing for the process to open up old wounds but they
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continue to focus on the good times all the good memories all the while Alison lives on
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forever that happy child I'm Antony Robart thank you for joining us tonight on crime beat
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to hear more about other high-profile Canadian cases check out the podcast
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crime beat with me Global News crime reporter Nancy
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00:45:00,579 --> 00:45:07,059
Hicks you can listen for free on Apple podcast Spotify or on curious Kass CA
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you
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