Remembering Highway of Tears victim Colleen MacMillen | Forensic Files

Well, immediately I think of her red hair because that was one of the most striking features of her. And uh she was
uh somewhat of a shy teenager. Uh one thing I do remember, she didn't like to have her picture taken very
often, but she loved the water. As Kevin said, we lived on the lake, spent innumerable
hours in the water, swimming during storms. We had a canoe and just she just loved being outdoors. And
what did this Bobby Jack Fowler take from you and your family? Well, it really took its toll on my on
her mom. Yeah. It devastated her and we didn't live there much longer after that.
It was the innocence that was lost in that whole area. Nothing even remotely close to this had ever happened to
anyone in our uh in our community. In our community. Yeah. It was just so far out of the realm of
normal experience that to be honest it never occurred to me that it could happen to me
just because it was so strange and foreign. Yeah. Unfortunately, in in those 70s,
people looked upon those type of things differently than they do now. You know, the as far as getting counseling and
that type of thing. It was just wasn't something you talked about back then. You just sort of tried to forget about
it and move ahead with your life. And that's I think that's what my mother was trying
to do is just try and forget about the hor whole ordeal. and uh she she she moved away from the area.
Must have been agonizing. Well, you know, it myself I can only speak to how I felt at the time and it
didn't really dawn on me. It wasn't until I was probably in my 20s that uh that I knew that, you know, I wanted
some answers really. You know, obviously I knew what had happened, but I didn't know the scope of it.
and how it would really affect me later on at the time. Emotionally, it was a just a very unusual thing to have
happen. And and uh you got to just forge ahead, make it make your way through and
move on to the next phase of your life. And and uh both of us have reflected back as adults thinking like, "Wow, how
did we how did we even get through that?" Yeah. Some satisfaction there. It is in some small part.
And uh thank God that evidence was preserved the way it was all these years. The RCMP did a fantastic job in
those days and what they had. It was amazing. Just simply amazing how it all transpired.

Kevin and Shawn MacMillen discuss the emotional journey of wondering what happened to their sister, Colleen, who went missing in 1974, along the Highway of Tears. In Sept. 2012 -- 38 years after her disappearance -- they finally learned that her killer had been caught.

Brief Summary

A family's emotional journey after a traumatic event in the 1970s, focusing on loss and the search for answers.

Key points

The Toll of Loss. The impact of tragedy on a family can be profound and lasting.

Episode highlights

The Toll of LossThe impact of tragedy on a family can be profound and lasting.“It devastated her and we didn't live there much longer after that.”0:40Dec 22, 2013

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