Wilhelmina Bruce Wanner
Alias: Winnie
Case reference: 2014002093
Missing since: January 3, 1989
Missing from: Red Deer, AB
Date of birth: February 13, 1936
Age at disappearance: 52 years
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Indigenous
Eye Color: Brown
Hair: Brown, Short
Height: 155cm / 5ft 1in
Weight: 44kg / 97lb
Physical Build: Petite/Slender
Complexion: Light/Fair
Noteable: Winnie wears dentures/false teeth and she has a scar on her abdomin from a hysterectomy.
Winnie was known to wear/carry: May have been wearing a 16″ gold chain with Aquarius symbol, small clustered pearl earrings with 10 karat gold trim, brushed denim jean jacket, runners & her purse
Case Details: Winnie was last seen at 4624 – 45 Street in Red Deer, Alberta on January 3, 1989. An arrest was made after Winnie’s disappearance. The petite woman was last seen alive in January of 1989. Later, blood and hair were found in her bathroom, along with a kitchen knife. Red Deer RCMP searched the region for her remains, even tearing apart the Red Deer landfill. They searched flare pits, oil dump sites, parks and isolated roads near The Wanner’s acreage, about 8km west of Red Deer. With no body, police even turned to psychics, which was used by RCMP as a last resort. Even though her estranged husband was seen leaving the apartment with a suspiciously large bag, Winnie vanished from the face of the earth.
Police charged her estranged husband, Jacob Wanner, with murder and the case went to trial in 1991. It was only the third time in Alberta’s history that a murder case was argued without a body being found. His defence lawyer argued in court that Jacob Wanner’s estranged wife had left the region. And the Crown couldn’t make a good enough case that she didn’t, so the jury ended up acquitting the accused. Jacob Wanner later died at age 78 in 2010.
While the main suspect is no longer alive, the RCMP never closes the file on cold cases.
Corp. Ron Bumbry, spokesperson for RCMP K-Division in Edmonton, said it’s important for the families of missing persons to know that these historic cases remain open and are periodically reviewed by investigators. In some cases, people who know something come forward years later, or evidence is found.
“We remain diligent and continue to investigate each case in the hope that something will eventually turn up.”
If you have information on Winnie’s case, please contact any of the following:
Red Deer RCMP: 1-403-406-2300
Reference Case#: 2012859725
Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS(8477)
Online at: https://www.canadiancrimestoppers.org/submit-a-tip/submit-a-tip
Crime Stoppers provides anonymous tipping
Send email to the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains at: canadasmissing-disparuscanada@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
*Winnie is listed as being among the 3,000 cases in an Alberta student’s database for missing or murdered Aboriginal women*
Sources:
Canada’s Missing
Doe Network
Red Deer Advocate
Newspapers.Com
Someone Saw Something 
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