Episode 63: Canada - The Victoria Steamboat Disaster

25-year-old Rhonda Running Bird disappeared without a trace while on a hunting trip with her common-law partner, Fred Lagrelle, at Swan Lake in Alberta on March 26, 1995. Accompanying Rhonda and Fred were their 18-month-old son and Fred’s Aunt Liza.

Allegedly, their truck got stuck in the mud and Rhonda left on foot to look for help. At the time, Rhonda Running Bird was using a colostomy bag for injuries she suffered during a brutal beating by Fred Lagrelle, according to her mother and hospital records, and was barely strong enough to walk. She hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

Rhonda Running Bird was 5'5 and between 125 and 145 pounds at the time of her disappearance. She wears glasses and a kidney colostomy bag. She has RRB tattooed on her left hand and a cross tattooed on her right. She was last known to be wearing running shoes and a red coat with a hood.

Rhonda is a member of the Siksika First Nation with Blackfoot ties.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Rhonda Running Bird, who has been missing from Clearwater County, Alberta since approximately March 26, 1995, please contact Constable Matthew Pepper with the Rocky Mountain House RCMP at 403-845-2882, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or online, or you can email the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains.

Sources:

CBC News – Missing & Murdered: The Unsolved Cases of Indigenous Women and Girls

Justice For Native Women

CBC News - Alberta mother wants police to be held to account in MMIW inquiry

Proboards Thread - Rhonda Running Bird