REGINA — The Regina Police Service is renewing two separate $50,000 rewards in hopes of generating new leads in a pair of the city’s most troubling unsolved cases.
The renewed rewards are for the 2004 disappearance of five-year-old Tamra Keepness and the 2010 triple homicide of the Htoo/Maw family.
“In both of these instances, investigators have been able to go through different evidence to see if there’s new opportunity for DNA analysis or testing,” said Supt. Laurel Marshall of the Investigative Services Division.
“The renewal of these rewards highlights the importance of public assistance,” said Marshall. “As time passes, people’s life circumstances change, which can generate new opportunities or reasons for bringing new information forward.”
Police say these developments, combined with continued investigative work, reinforce the belief that both of these cases remain solvable.
Five-year-old missing for more than two decades
Tamra Jewel Keepness was reported missing on July 6, 2004, after she was last seen at her home on Ottawa Street around 11 p.m. the night before. Despite hundreds of interviews and thousands of tips over the years, police say they still do not know what happened to her.
The original reward of $25,000 was offered shortly after her disappearance. It was doubled to $50,000 in 2014 and has now been renewed once again this month by the Board of Police Commissioners.
Investigators say advancements in forensic technology have opened new avenues for analysis. Certain exhibits from Keepness file have recently been identified for submission to the National Laboratory in Ottawa, reflecting what police describe as “new opportunity for DNA analysis or testing.”
Triple homicide of Karen refugee family remains unsolved
The second renewed reward relates to the August 2010 killings of 31-year-old Gray Nah Htoo, 28-year-old Maw Maw, and their three-year-old son, Seven June Htoo. The family, Karen refugees from Myanmar, had lived in Regina for about two years after arriving from a refugee camp in Thailand.
They were found dead in their Oakview Drive home, prompting a major investigation that has involved dozens of Regina officers as well as assistance from the RCMP, FBI, and other agencies. A $50,000 reward first offered in 2014 has now been reinstated.
Anyone with information in these cases is encouraged to contact the Regina Police Service at 306-777-6500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
