The Disappearance of the Jack Family - Missing since 1989 - Prince George, B.C.

By S.M.

Published June 5, 2020 | Updated August 23, 2020

Age-progression photos of the Jack family, released August 23, 2020. (Unidentified Human Remains Canada, Steinberg's Facial Identification Catalogs and The AWARE Foundation, Inc.)

The Jack Family Disappearance

Doreen Ann Jack - Age: 26
Ronald “Ronnie” Jack - Age: 26
Russell Jack - Age: 9
Ryan Jack - Age: 4

Missing since: August 2, 1989

Location: Prince George, British Columbia

The offer was too good to be true.

On Tuesday, August 1, 1989, Ronnie Jack left the First Litre Pub in Prince George, British Columbia, feeling hopeful. At 26 years old, Ronnie had been out of work due to a back injury, and the Jack family had been living on welfare. Someone at the bar that night offered to help.

The man told Ronnie about a job opportunity for him and his wife, Doreen, at a logging camp or ranch in the Cluculz Lake area, about 40 km west of Prince George, past Bednesti. Ronnie was offered a job bucking logs, and Doreen was offered a position as a cook’s helper in the camp kitchen. The man told Ronnie the camp even had a day care for the couple’s two sons: Russell, who was 9 years old, and Ryan, who was 4. The Jacks didn’t have a car, so the man offered to drive them to the job site that night.

At 11:16 p.m., Ronnie called his brother and told him about the “camp job.” Two hours later, he called his parents in Burns Lake, B.C. Ronnie said the family would be at the site for 10 to 14 days and would be home by the time school began.

The man waited for Ronnie, Doreen, Russell and Ryan to pack their belongings. At 1:21 a.m. on August 2, 1989, all four members of the Jack family were seen leaving their home at 2116 Strathcona Avenue, and piling into the man’s four-wheel drive, dark-coloured pickup truck.

They were never seen again.

The Investigation

The family was officially reported missing on August 25, 1989. Their disappearance is the first and only of its kind in Canadian history.

Nearly seven years later, the most significant tip about the Jack family’s disappearance came early on a Sunday morning in January. On January 28, 1996, at 8:33 a.m., a man in Stoney Creek, B.C., called Vanderhoof police with a brief message:

“The Jack family are buried in the south end of (?) ranch.”

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It was over in 10 seconds; the caller had hung up before the dispatch could ask any questions. Investigators published several appeals in local newspapers asking the person to call again, and planned to release the recording of the caller's voice if they didn't. In March of 1996, the voice recording was analyzed by the University of British Columbia. Although police were eventually able to trace the call to a house in Vanderhoof, where a house party had taken place during the timeframe of the call, it’s unclear if the caller was ever identified. It was the first tip of its kind in the family's disappearance.

Since the investigation began, the RCMP have conducted hundreds of interviews, obtained thousands of documents related to the case and have searched several properties in search of Ronald, Doreen, Russell and Ryan. The most recent search for the Jack family took place in 2019 at a property south of Vanderhoof, on the Saik'uz First Nation Reserve. Gound-penetrating radar and heavy equipment were used. No trace of the Jack family has ever been found.

The Suspect

The description of the man who offered the job to Ronnie at the First Litre Pub was compiled from statements by two witnesses; one in 1989, the other in 1990. The man is the prime suspect in the family’s disappearance.

He was described as Caucasian, 6’ to 6’6” tall with reddish-brown hair, a short, full beard and moustache.

His hair went to the bottom of his ears and was parted on one side. In 1989, he was 35 to 40 years old, and approximately 200 to 275 lbs. He was wearing a baseball cap, a red checkered work shirt, faded blue jeans, a waist-length blue nylon jacket and work boots with leather fringes over the toes.

Over 30 years have passed. The Jack family’s fate, and the identity of the man from the First Litre Pub, remains unknown.

The disappearance of a loved one is devastating; the inexplicable loss of a family of four is a tragedy beyond comprehension. The Jack family deserves justice, and they deserve to come home.