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RCMP still looking for tips in disappearance of Charlene Catholique 30 years ago

It has been 30 years since Charlene Catholique was last seen.

Charlene Catholique, shown here at age 15, was last seen at the intersection of Hwy 3 and the Rae Access Road on July 22, 1990.
Photo sourced from Canada's Missing. 

Her disappearance is still under RCMP investigation. 

Catholique, originally from Lutsel K’e, was last seen hitchhiking at the intersection of Highway 3 and the Rae Access Road – about 100 km from Yellowknife. 

Three decades after her disappearance, RCMP investigators are still hoping for a breakthrough despite the fact that the NWT Supreme Court said in 2017 that there were reasonable grounds for Catholique to be presumed dead.

“Any tips from the public could potentially help us shed some light as to what happened 30 years ago and bring closure to her family,” said Cpl. Mike Lewis of the NWT RCMP's Historical Case Unit, in a news release issued Wednesday.

Catholique’s aunt, Lorraine Catholique, has been involved in the investigation from the start. She urges anyone with information to “please come forward.”

“I have seen the size of the file, and it is not a simple task to investigate and try to resolve Charlene’s disappearance.”

In 2017, NWT and Nunavut Crime Stoppers released a video reenactment of a hitchhiking woman matching Catholique’s description. The video follows previous examples of reenactments leading to new citizens coming forward with information.

Catholique's profile is also a part of the Missing Kids database – a resource to support families in finding their missing child and a source of information to help prevent children from going missing.

Anyone with information on Catholique is asked to call NWT RCMP Major Crimes Unit at 669-1111, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, or to text “nwtnutips” plus your message to 274637.