Mittens, bedsheets, chest waders. Those are just some of the items that the RCMP say hold potential evidentiary value in the case of Jennifer Hillier-Penney, CBC News has learned.
Court documents show a Corner Brook judge has again provided the force with an extension to hold onto seized items that are linked to the missing woman’s estranged husband.
“If they had anything that could end this, it would be already done by now,” said oldest daughter Marina Goodyear.
“I think the biggest mistakes were already made in the beginning that we’re never going to recover from. And I truly believe they’re just waiting for somebody to crack and not be able to hold the secret anymore and [are] playing the waiting game for that, you know?”
Hillier-Penney, 38, was last seen at Dean Penney’s house on Husky Drive on Nov. 30, 2016. Though Hillier-Penney had moved in with her father and was beginning a separation, she was at the house watching her youngest daughter while Penney was duck hunting at their cabin in nearby Northwest Arm. It’s about 45 minutes from St. Anthony, near the airport.
Through his lawyer, Penney declined comment for this story.
In 2018, the RCMP told The Fifth Estate they estimate that Hillier-Penney disappeared shortly after arriving at Penney’s home that night — about 8 p.m. They believe she was murdered. The Mounties have never publicly named a suspect.
What the RCMP has
Police affidavits filed in December at Supreme Court in Corner Brook shed more light on what physical evidence the RCMP has in the six-year-old case.
On Dec. 7, 2016 — seven days after Hillier-Penney disappeared — the RCMP seized swabs, pillow casings and bedsheets from Penney’s home.
Later that month, the RCMP focused their attention on a vehicle and cabin linked to Penney. One item was seized from the cabin but the documents do not indicate what it was.
Officers took 131 swabs, two strands of hair, chest waders, knitted mitts and three gloves from a vehicle on Dec. 17, 2016.
Other items seized by police are identified only by ID numbers.
RCMP Cpl. Jolene Garland said any evidence gathered to date is of value.
“Certainly the weight or the importance that it has, or the value it has today can be very much different than what it may hold tomorrow, depending on the possibility of where the investigation heads to any new developments in the case,” Garland said Tuesday.
Goodyear called her relationship with the RCMP “depressing,” having soured almost immediately when it took officers a week to search Penney’s home.
Despite that, Garland said the RCMP has not given up on making an arrest in the case. She said one of the investigators has been with the case since the onset and others have been brought in over time to review what has been gathered to date “for fresh perspective to ensure that no evidence is left unturned.”
The case “is not forgotten about in our eyes,” Garland said.
“We understand for sure that six years is a long time and nobody will ever understand what family and friends are dealing with in trying to process the loss of somebody where they have all these unanswered questions. The RCMP would love nothing more than to be able to answer these questions for the family and put their minds at ease.”
Goodyear said she received a call last summer from an RCMP officer who heard she was planning a trip to St. Anthony.
“I think they were hoping that my presence in the town was going to spark up some more conversation because they wanted to inform me that the tip line has gone completely dead,” Goodyear said.
“Nobody calls about her anymore, which is really, really, really sad. But it’s again, it’s understandable because it’s only the very few that are responsible for it that know any answers.”
Garland said the RCMP has received tips within the last year but did not have a specific number to provide. She added the RCMP believe there are people in the community with knowledge about what happened, and police are encouraging anyone to come forward with information, no matter how small.
‘Left me with nothing’
Now a mother herself, Goodyear said she is estranged from her father.
“It definitely took both of my parents away from me. And left me with nothing.”
On the streets and in businesses in St. Anthony, Hillier-Penney can still be seen everywhere — her face and name plastered on billboards and posters, but six years later, she is nowhere to be found.
The missing woman’s case has cast a permanent pall over the community on the Northern Peninsula, and Goodyear believes it will remain that way until the person responsible for her suspected murder is brought to justice.
“I don’t think she’ll ever be forgotten. It’s impossible because it’s in their face so much,” Goodyear said.
“I think it’s possible that stuff dies down and things get quiet, but no, they’re never going to forget about her. And how can they again? They’re living with her killer too.”
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