Warning: Readers may find the contents of this story disturbing.
October is a “sad, sad month” for Tammy Dennett, but this year marks a particularly grim milestone: 40 years since her sister was murdered in London, Ont.
Donna Awcock, 17, left their family’s apartment unit to go babysitting on Oct. 12, 1983. Her body was found along the banks of the Thames River, near the eastern edge of the city on Oct. 14, 1983.
“I can’t figure out why someone wouldn’t come forward. What if this was your sister? What if this was your daughter, you know what I mean? What it did to my family is just unbelievable,” Dennett says.
“I believe my dad died that day, it just took him 21 years to lay down. It destroyed us.”
Dennett was 20 years old and nine months pregnant with her third child at the time. She was waiting for a townhouse to come up and still living in the family’s apartment when Awcock left to babysit the kids of a woman who also lived on Oakville Avenue, then known as Cheyenne Avenue.
She now knows that her sister had shared a pizza with the woman she babysat for and then was asked to go to the convenience store to buy cigarettes, where Dennett says the clerk described her as looking upset and denied her the use of their phone, citing store policy.
That was the last time Awcock was seen alive.
“My mum had got up that morning, like the morning of October 13th, and noticed Donna’s bed still empty. So she asked my youngest sister Laura, said, ‘Can you go over to Michelle’s and ask her to send Donna home?’ Laura goes over to Michelle’s and knocked on the door. Michelle doesn’t open the door to her and just says, ‘Donna went home last night.’”
She said police told them they needed to wait 24 hours to report her missing but the family knew something was wrong.
“So then there was about 200 people in all the complexes got together,” she says.
“Two boys (around Donna’s age) had a dog and went down Fanshawe way, and that’s where Donna was found down an embankment by the Fanshawe Dam.”
The five-foot-three, 105-pound teenager had been raped and strangled. Her body was found roughly two kilometres from her home.
Ontario Provincial Police say they have “interviewed witnesses, followed up on tips and investigated using various techniques” over the last four decades. The case remains open and police believe that someone has information that “would help point to the person or persons responsible for her murder.”
“Donna’s family has been missing her every day for 40 years. They deserve to know what happened to her,” Det. Insp. Randy Wright said.
“Someone out there knows something about this case; even the smallest detail could help. We urge anyone with information to step forward and help bring resolution to Donna’s family and friends.”
40 years and this family is still looking for closure. Their sister, 17-yr-old Donna AWCOCK was murdered in @CityofLdnOnt in 1983. Do you have info? Call #OPP 1-888-310-1122 or remain anonymous with @crimestopperldn 1-800-222-8477 @CountyMiddlesex ^jh pic.twitter.com/sC8gqcfL9y
— OPP West Region (@OPP_WR) October 11, 2023
Dennett says her parents died “not knowing who could have done this to their daughter” and that the tragedy and violence has had a lasting impact on her family.
“I’ve always worried about my safety. Always. Because you don’t know who it is. Is it somebody we know?”
Through tears, she stressed that she, her parents, and her three other siblings missed out on so many milestones.
“We didn’t see her get married, we didn’t see her be a mom, we didn’t see her be a grandma. She loved my kids.”
Now, Dennett is urging anyone with information to “give Donna justice that she deserves.”
Two billboards, a ground display and eight bus ads have been created to draw attention to the case as it marks a tragic milestone. The billboards are at Clarke Road and Oxford Street East and at Clarke Road and Atlantic Crescent, while a ground display is planned for Huron Street and Clarke Road.
The province is offering a $50,000 award for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible. Anyone with information is asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.