In December 1989, Ramsey Rioux and Kenneth Lutz were two indigenous 13-year-olds living in North Burnaby, BC with Ramsey’s uncle and his family. Ken had previously lived with his father in the West End, and even though things weren’t going well, he was having trouble adjusting to a new school, new family, new friends and a different neighbourhood.
He would often take Ramsey and head back to the West End.
So, when they went missing, police immediately categorized them as prolific runaways, and it doesn’t appear that they looked too hard to find them.
Both boys were five foot three with dark hair and brown eyes. Ken had a slim build and a scar over his left eye. On the day they went missing they were dressed almost identically in denim jackets with wool collars, black jeans and white runners.
Skull discovered in Stanley Park
In the summer of 1990 a hiker discovered a skull near Beaver Lake in Stanley Park. The skull had good quality dental work which ruled out the possibility that it came from an Indigenous burial ground. The coroner’s office created a composite image using bone and teeth structure. It was determined that the skull belonged to an indigenous or Asian girl aged between 14 and 16.
In 1998, the case of the unidentified skull in Stanley Park came across the desk of detective Al Cattley of the newly formed Provincial Unsolved Homicide Unit. After the mix up of genders in the Babes in the Woods case, Cattley wondered if the skull had also been misidentified. He had the skull tested for a DNA, and found that the skull belonged to a teenage boy.
Police from the cold case unit searched through missing persons reports and eventually narrowed the search to Ramsey Rioux and Kenneth Lutz.
Second Search produces tips
Stanley Park was searched again, but nothing was found that could be linked to the two boys.
Publicity generated by the search—including a segment on America’s Most Wanted—produced some promising tips from the public.
Corrinna saw the show. She was Ken’s 13-year-old girlfriend and probably the last person to see the boys in Burnaby on the day that they disappeared. She called the tip line, but was told it was okay they didn’t need to speak with her. If they had taken the time to interview her, they would have found out a lot of potentially useful information.
The boys dropped by her house and told her they were running away to Saskatchewan and dropped off a Christmas present for her. She said they didn’t have any money and only a few clothes in their backpacks.
Skull Found:
In 1995, A West End resident was foraging for wood in Stanley Park when he saw a skull in the bush. He took it home and popped it on a shelf in his basement. The skull stayed there for the next three years. Eventually he handed over his find to police and took Cattley to the spot where he had found it. Cattley was surprised to discover that it had been located just 60 metres from where Ramsey’s skull was discovered in 1990.
Cattley thought the boys may have been victims of a pedophile ring that operated in BC in the 1970s and ‘80s. This was never confirmed and no other parts of the boys bodies were ever found.
Ramsey Rioux is buried at the Fairview Cemetery in Prince Rupert, BC. Ken Lutz was laid to rest after a potlatch and ceremony at the Stellaquo BC cemetery, about two hours west of Prince George.
- Copies of my new book, Beneath Dark Waters: The Legacy of the Empress of Ireland Shipwreck, are available through my publisher Arsenal Pulp Press, or from any independent bookstore across Canada
Show Notes:
Music: Andreas Schuld ‘Waiting for You’
Intro and voiceover: Mark Dunn
With thanks to Aaron Chapman, author of Vancouver Vice for his insights into Vancouver’s West End in the 1980s
Related:
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A very sad case. And as someone, then a child protection social worker in Richmond and formerly a Family Support Worker for MCFD in Burnaby from 1978-1983, I paid attention to stories such as this and yet I have no recollection of this story…so I assume there was little to no coverage. Hopefully your highlighting this double murder will have an impact.
So incredibly sad. Kenny Lutz lived with his dad on the ground floor of my apartment building in the west end in the early 1980s. He was an incredibly sweet and friendly kid and we called him Kenny the Wonder Boy — he was the only child residing in our building. His mom would sometimes show up and yell outside the building, sadly in a very distraught state. I was so saddened when I heard years later about Kenny going missing and then reading about his skull being located. I had fond memories of running into Kenny in the halls of our building in his earlier years and hopefully happier times for him.
I was living in the Lower Mainland, Surrey area during this time period. I’d heard the story of the Babes in the Woods years before, but strangely, I’d never heard of these two young boys being missing, and then found. There mustn’t have been much news coverage. How very sad! 😔
Ken Lutz skull is buried stellaquo Bc reserve cemetery when his skull was returned, we had a pot latch and buried his skull my mother Tilly habsburg from the stellaquo band was related to Ken’s mom?
And my mother had a hereditary name, so we had a ceremony. I put kens remains to rest. Can how’s a headstone and stellaquo graveyard? It’s a first nation community, 2 hours west of Prince George.
Thank you so much for letting us know this. I’m so glad Ken was given a proper burial.
Ramsey’s sister, Ann Marie, was able to obtain Ramsey’s skull from the police I believe in 2002 or 2003. She tried to get further investigation into her brother’s death but it seemed little was done. Ann Marie buried Ramsey’s remains along side of their sister, Stella, who died in 2002. Recently (Mar 8/25) Ramsey’s father, Roy Rioux, passed away and Ramsey’s mother passed away a few years prior in Ontario. Both died without ever learning what happened to their son. Roy’s remains are buried in Prince Rupert, BC along side of Ramsey and Stella.
I have a photo of Ramsey’s headstone on the blog post, but I didn’t know about his parents. I’m so sorry they weren’t able to get answers about his murder thanks so much for sharing this information.
Stella was murdered as well in 2002. Her drink was spiked with an extremely high dose of morphine, which she was deadly allergic to.
I wondered what happened to her. I’m so sorry, the family had enough tragedy
There are some sick mfkrs in this world . I hope the perp suffers an eternity