Missing & Murdered: Finding Cleo
CBC
Where is Cleo? Taken by child welfare workers in the 1970’s and adopted in the U.S., the young Cree girl’s family believes she was raped and murdered while hitchhiking back home to Saskatchewan. CBC news investigative reporter Connie Walker joins the search to find out what really happened to Cleo. For the best in true crime from CBC, ad-free, visit apple.co/cbctruecrime. Watch Connie Walker's A Sister's Promise on The Fifth Estate's YouTube channel now.
Where is Cleo? Taken by child welfare workers in the 1970’s and adopted in the U.S., the young Cree girl’s family believes she was raped and murdered while hitchhiking back home to Saskatchewan. CBC news investigative reporter Connie Walker joins the search to find out what really happened to Cleo. For the best in true crime from CBC, ad-free, visit apple.co/cbctruecrime. Watch Connie Walker's A Sister's Promise on The Fifth Estate's YouTube channel now.
The kid who confronted his abuser at residential school (via See You in Court)
Épisodes
Willie Blackwater is just 13 when he holds a knife to his rapist's throat, demanding an end to his recurring abuse. It’s the first time Willie stands up to his residential school supervisor, but it’s far from the last. Years later, after a fateful encounter with a cop, Willie decides to break his silence — joining a group of survivors that help convict Arthur Henry Plint of 18 counts of sexual assault. But for Willie and his friends, it’s not enough. And a risky idea starts to form. Can they take on the architects of the residential school system? Host of See You in Court, Falen Johnson and journalist Jackie McKay meet the man behind Blackwater vs. Plint, one of the first court cases where residential school survivors took their abuser to court, eventually paving a legal path for thousands of other Indigenous children forced to attend these schools. This episode is part one, episode two can be found here: https://link.mgln.ai/SYICS2xMMxEP2 The stories behind the legal battles that changed Canada — and the unlikely people who made it happen. Some were sh*t disturbers, some were convicts, and some were just regular folks dragged into a fight. Each week, See You in Court digs into a case that challenged the status quo, and asks: what kind of person takes on the law? What are the costs? And what would our lives look like if these cases never happened? Because let's be real, just because a case is closed doesn't mean the story’s over. More episodes of See You in Court are available here: https://link.mgln.ai/SYICS2xMM
Even though it was supposed to have been destroyed in 1983, the police file documenting the investigation into Cleo’s death still exists and it contains more detail than Christine ever imagined learning about the last days, hours and even minutes of Cleo’s short life. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/missing-murdered-season-2-finding-cleo-transcripts-listen-1.6733352
Christine travels to Pennsylvania for an emotional reunion with her brother, Johnny, who she hasn’t seen since she was a baby. Determined to get more answers about the days and weeks leading up to her sister’s death, Christine finally gets a copy of Cleo’s death certificate. That, and other documents begin to shed light on the truth she’s been seeking for decades. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/missing-murdered-season-2-finding-cleo-transcripts-listen-1.6733352
Digging through archives in Saskatchewan, Connie makes a shocking discovery. As she investigates the controversial Adopt Indian Metis program which Cleo and her siblings were a part of, the man who started the program agrees to speak with her about its controversial origins, and legacy. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/missing-murdered-season-2-finding-cleo-transcripts-listen-1.6733352
Connie’s chance meeting with the father who Cleo never knew is followed by new revelations about the Semaganis children’s biological mother, Lillian. A picture begins to emerge about why her children were taken, and when she joined the fight to stop the adoption of more Indigenous children into white homes. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/missing-murdered-season-2-finding-cleo-transcripts-listen-1.6733352
A brief encounter with someone who knew Cleo perhaps better than anyone else just before her death reveals crucial details. Connecting new facts about her life leads the investigation to a world far from where Cleo died, back to Little Pine First Nation. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/missing-murdered-season-2-finding-cleo-transcripts-listen-1.6733352
As Connie shares some shocking news with Cleo's siblings, the truth about what happened to her remains just out of reach. Police may have answers but can’t share them yet. It's time to visit the one person who's bound to know more. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/missing-murdered-season-2-finding-cleo-transcripts-listen-1.6733352
The search for Cleo leads Connie to investigate a headstone belonging to a 13-year-old girl who died in 1978. The cemetery is more than 20 hours away from Arkansas, where Cleo's family has long believed she was killed. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/missing-murdered-season-2-finding-cleo-transcripts-listen-1.6733352
Connie meets Cleo’s older brother, Johnny, in Pennsylvania, where he was adopted. He’s haunted by the memory of saying goodbye to Cleo and longs to fulfill a promise to find her. A late night internet search reveals he may be close. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/missing-murdered-season-2-finding-cleo-transcripts-listen-1.6733352
Christine gets a tip that helps geographically narrow the search for Cleo, and Connie visits another sister, April, to see what she may remember. Scouring old photos and documents, they stumble on a key reference to Cleo in April’s adoption records. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/missing-murdered-season-2-finding-cleo-transcripts-listen-1.6733352
Connie responds to Christine’s plea for help finding her eldest sister, Cleo. The only proof of Cleo’s existence though is a tiny, undated school photo. A clue soon emerges which will take Christine’s search in unexpected directions. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/missing-murdered-season-2-finding-cleo-transcripts-listen-1.6733352
In the 1970s, Cleo was taken by child welfare workers and adopted in the U.S. Her family, who has been searching for her since, was told she was murdered. Host Connie Walker helps the family unravel the mystery. A CBC News podcast coming March 7th.
Connie Walker questions police about DNA evidence, and learns that after nearly three decades, their seemingly stagnant investigation has become “very active”, as a result of new information brought to light in this podcast.
Digging deeper into old police notes, Connie Walker tries to find out what happened to a pile of bloody clothes matching a description of what Alberta was wearing on the night she disappeared.
A closer examination of old RCMP notebooks yields new details about a mysterious phone call from a woman who knew where Alberta’s body was concealed, days before her body was actually found.
In this episode, Connie Walker finds the cabbie who people told us they saw with Alberta and her uncle Jack the night after she’s thought to have vanished. While talking to Walker the taxi driver discloses something surprising about his DNA.
A shocking new revelation surfaces about people seeing Alberta in a mysterious black truck after she was thought to have disappeared. The tip propels investigative reporter Connie Walker north, to Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
New details emerge about the last night Alberta was seen alive. Reporter Connie Walker speaks to a key witness who has never been interviewed by police about what he saw the night Alberta disappeared.
