Winnipeg police pulling out stops to locate missing woman

Winnipeg police and the family of ClaudettePriscilla (Penny) Osborne are "grasping at anything" to locate the woman who went missing last summer.

The police and Crime Stoppers have recreated on video the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the 21-year-old woman, who was last seen near the Lincoln Hotel at Mountain Avenue and McPhillips Street around 6 a.m.on July 25, 2008.

Sgt. Gord Kilcup, who heads up the Crime Stoppers unit, said this is the first time he has ever co-ordinated with the police on a missing person's case in Winnipeg.

"At this point, we're grasping at anything," said Det. Ken Bertin of the Winnipeg Police Service missing persons unit.

Osborne is described as aboriginal, five feet three inches tall, 140 pounds, with long brown hair and hazel eyes. She has a visible scar on the left side of her jaw. She was last seen wearing a black short-sleeved shirt with ruffled collar and black pinstripe pants.

Her mother, Brenda Osborne, said the family will never give up trying to find her.

'I'd just like to say that we're not gonna quit looking. We're gonna find her. Her kids are waiting for her.' Brenda Osborne

"I'd just like to say that we're not gonna quit looking. We're gonna find her," she said. "Her kids are waiting for her. So is my family. [We] miss her a lot."

Bertin credits the Osborne family for keeping the campaign to find her active. He is asking homeowners in the outskirts of the city to check their properties and unused buildings for possible clues.

The video about Osborne's disappearance can be viewed by clicking the link at the top right of this page.

Anyone with information regarding Osborne's disappearance is asked to contact the missing persons unit at 204-986-6250 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477 (TIPS).