Kelowna, B.C., residents remember Mindy Tran 30 years after death

WARNING: This story contains disturbingdetails.

Around a dozen people in Kelowna, B.C., gathered to remember Mindy Tran on Sunday, 30 years after the eight-year-old girl was killed.

On Aug. 17, 1994, Tran was reported missing after she rode her pink bike down her quiet street in the southern Interior city. She would never be seen alive again.

Six weeks later, on the insistence of a so-called psychic with a divining rod, police found a shallow grave with the girl's remainsin a park near the Trans' house. The child had been sexually assaulted and strangled. The discovery of her body prompted an outpouring of grief in the Okanagan city.

Shannon Murrin, a man originally from Newfoundland, was charged with the killing in January1997.

However, he was found not guilty by a jury in 2000 after a seven-month trial, with his lawyers alleging that the RCMP's lead investigator at the time had manufactured a case against their client and manipulated witnesses.

No one else has been charged in Tran's death since then, and30 years after her death shocked B.C., community members at Sunday's event said they're still searching for answers.

"I tried to not cry, tried to control [myself]," said Shui Lee, the chair of the Chinese Freemasons of Kelowna, in an interview. "But after 30 years, the scar is still there. I still remember what happened that day.

"I hope Mindy can go to heaven, be our little angel, and rest in peace."

Lee said he organized the event to ensure Tran's memory lived on, and remind newer members of the community of the young girl and how happy she always was.

He added that he remained angry at the fact no one has been convicted of her murderbut he wants community members to move past their anger and make her story carry on.

The event saw people gathering at a memorial tree, planted at the corner of Springfield Road and Ziprick Road at Mission Creek Regional Park, and sharing their memories of Tran.

"The qualities I appreciated in Mindy were that of a quiet but happy, friendly little girl who was willing to help others," said Elizabeth Daley, who was Tran's Grade 1 teacher at Springvalley Elementary School in the early '90s. "She was sweet and gentle. She was well-mannered, sensitive and appreciative.

"These qualities are Mindy. Nothing can change or alter them," Daley added.

"By acknowledging them and appreciating them and trying to express them more in our own lives, we keep Mindy alive in our hearts."