Listen: Crime Beat Podcast – The Story of Kelly Cook, the backup babysitter (Part 2)

It was a different time. Technology hadn’t taken over individual lives yet. There were no cell phones, no video game players, and no internet for the average person. It was a slower time and the world seemed safer. Especially if you lived in a rural community.

That’s why, when a stranger started calling teenaged girls in a small town east of Calgary, no one really thought they should be overly concerned. Someone thought maybe they knew someone who knew the man. His name sounded familiar in the area. That was good enough in 1981 in Standard, Alberta. That was the way things were, and that opened up an opportunity for a man with a sinister plan.

A man calling himself Bill Christensen tracked down a teenaged babysitter, and picked her up. That was the last time her family saw her alive. Her body was discovered many weeks later. Her killer who breezed into her life in such an unsuspecting manner, disappeared just as easily. The case has never been solved. Police and society as a whole at that time, just weren’t ready for something like this. So 38 years later, the man who killed Kelly Cook is still out there.

So is his original, intended victim. Bill Christensen’s first choice for babysitter wasn’t available the night he was looking. She talked to him on the phone and suggested some other girls she knew were babysitters… including the girl who would lose her life.

In this episode of the Global News podcast Crime Beat, crime reporter Nancy Hixt shares details of this unsolved crime that have never been reported.

Police continue to investigate the case but are still waiting for the tip they need to solve it.

If you know anything that can help police as they investigate Kelly’s homicide, call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

If you enjoy Crime Beat, please take a minute to rate it on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, tell us what you think and share the show with your friends.

Contact:

Twitter: @nancyhixt

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyHixtCrimeBeat/

Email: [email protected]

We LOVE that you are loving the “Crime Beat” podcast! If you haven’t subscribed yet — what are you waiting for?

Subscribing’s easy! Here’s how…

Open the Apple Podcasts app, search for “Crime Beat” and select it from the list of results.
Once on the Crime Beat’s page, click the “subscribe” button to have new episodes sent to your mobile device for free.
Click the name of an episode from the list below to listen.

On your Android Phone or Tablet:

Open the Google Podcasts app, search for “Crime Beat” and select it from the list of results.
Once on the Crime Beat’s page, click the “subscribe” button to have new episodes sent to your mobile device for free.
Click the name of an episode from the list below to listen.

Up Next

Rural Crime: Canadian Natural Resource site south of Halkirk targeted by thieves

Don't Miss

Update: Outlaw Bikers Arrested in Red Deer Drug Investigation (police photos)

Duane Rolheiser

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

Follow Author

Owner sells gas for 80 cents per litre to show Albertans how low prices ‘could’ be

Business / 1 week ago

Trump Tariffs are not going away. Canada needs to adapt or face the consequences

Duane Rolheiser / 3 weeks ago

Team Canada is driving us right into the arms of The Donald

Alberta

Big win for Alberta and Canada: Statement from Premier Smith

Published on April 2, 2025

Government of Alberta

Premier Danielle Smith issued the following statement on the April 2, 2025 U.S. tariff announcement:

“Today was an important win for Canada and Alberta, as it appears the United States has decided to uphold the majority of the free trade agreement (CUSMA) between our two nations. It also appears this will continue to be the case until after the Canadian federal election has concluded and the newly elected Canadian government is able to renegotiate CUSMA with the U.S. administration.

“This is precisely what I have been advocating for from the U.S. administration for months.

“It means that the majority of goods sold into the United States from Canada will have no tariffs applied to them, including zero per cent tariffs on energy, minerals, agricultural products, uranium, seafood, potash and host of other Canadian goods.

“There is still work to be done, of course. Unfortunately, tariffs previously announced by the United States on Canadian automobiles, steel and aluminum have not been removed. The efforts of premiers and the federal government should therefore shift towards removing or significantly reducing these remaining tariffs as we go forward and ensuring affected workers across Canada are generously supported until the situation is resolved.

“I again call on all involved in our national advocacy efforts to focus on diplomacy and persuasion while avoiding unnecessary escalation. Clearly, this strategy has been the most effective to this point.

“As it appears the worst of this tariff dispute is behind us (though there is still work to be done), it is my sincere hope that we, as Canadians, can abandon the disastrous policies that have made Canada vulnerable to and overly dependent on the United States, fast-track national resource corridors, get out of the way of provincial resource development and turn our country into an independent economic juggernaut and energy superpower.”

Alberta

Energy sector will fuel Alberta economy and Canada’s exports for many years to come

Published on April 2, 2025

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Jock Finlayson

By any measure, Alberta is an energy powerhouse—within Canada, but also on a global scale. In 2023, it produced 85 per cent of Canada’s oil and three-fifths of the country’s natural gas. Most of Canada’s oil reserves are in Alberta, along with a majority of natural gas reserves. Alberta is the beating heart of the Canadian energy economy. And energy, in turn, accounts for one-quarter of Canada’s international exports.

Consider some key facts about the province’s energy landscape, as noted in the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) 2023 annual report. Oil and natural gas production continued to rise (on a volume basis) in 2023, on the heels of steady increases over the preceding half decade. However, the dollar value of Alberta’s oil and gas production fell in 2023, as the surging prices recorded in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine retreated. Capital spending in the province’s energy sector reached $30 billion in 2023, making it the leading driver of private-sector investment. And completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project has opened new offshore export avenues for Canada’s oil industry and should boost Alberta’s energy production and exports going forward.

In a world striving to address climate change, Alberta’s hydrocarbon-heavy energy sector faces challenges. At some point, the world may start to consume less oil and, later, less natural gas (in absolute terms). But such “peak” consumption hasn’t arrived yet, nor does it appear imminent. While the demand for certain refined petroleum products is trending down in some advanced economies, particularly in Europe, we should take a broader global perspective when assessing energy demand and supply trends.

Looking at the worldwide picture, Goldman Sachs’ 2024 global energy forecast predicts that “oil usage will increase through 2034” thanks to strong demand in emerging markets and growing production of petrochemicals that depend on oil as the principal feedstock. Global demand for natural gas (including LNG) will also continue to increase, particularly since natural gas is the least carbon-intensive fossil fuel and more of it is being traded in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Against this backdrop, there are reasons to be optimistic about the prospects for Alberta’s energy sector, particularly if the federal government dials back some of the economically destructive energy and climate policies adopted by the last government. According to the AER’s “base case” forecast, overall energy output will expand over the next 10 years. Oilsands output is projected to grow modestly; natural gas production will also rise, in part due to greater demand for Alberta’s upstream gas from LNG operators in British Columbia.

The AER’s forecast also points to a positive trajectory for capital spending across the province’s energy sector. The agency sees annual investment rising from almost $30 billion to $40 billion by 2033. Most of this takes place in the oil and gas industry, but “emerging” energy resources and projects aimed at climate mitigation are expected to represent a bigger slice of energy-related capital spending going forward.

Like many other oil and gas producing jurisdictions, Alberta must navigate the bumpy journey to a lower-carbon future. But the world is set to remain dependent on fossil fuels for decades to come. This suggests the energy sector will continue to underpin not only the Alberta economy but also Canada’s export portfolio for the foreseeable future.