Finding Pat Lowther

Detectives Hale and Chapman followed up on the lead that Roy Lowther had given them. They checked airlines, railroads and bus companies to see if his wife, Pat, had travelled. Nothing was found, They managed to contact the poet in Ontario - the one Roy thought his wife was having an affair with - but he had not seen the missing woman in almost a year. The two were good friends and had collaborated on a a book in the past.

On October 13, 1975, Mr. Robert Kourvoisier and his family were going out to spend the day hiking and fishing. They drove their car along the Squamish Highway and pulled off the road at Furry Creek, two and half miles from Britannia Beach. Leaving the car, the family hiked through the woods for the next hour or so.

It was a beautiful fall day, nature was showing off her autumn colours. The Kourvoisier family got back to their car and Robert decided he wanted to explore a small creek. He followed the creek to a train bridge. Crossing the bridge, he happened to look down and saw a body lying face down in the water. The head and shoulders were jammed under a log.

After telling his children to stay back, Robert hurried up the road to a nearby service station where he called the police. Constable Dennis Culic of the R.C. M. P. (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) met Kourvoisier on the side of the road and the two men climbed down to where the body was located.

Once Culic was satisfied the remains were that of a body and not a store mannequin, he returned to his vehicle and radioed his detachment office in Squamish, informing them of the situation. In twenty minutes, an ambulance and a photographer arrived.

Photographs were taken, a plan of the area drawn and the body was removed from the water. The badly decomposed remains were determined to be those of a female who had been in the water for two or three weeks. She was taken to the Lions Gate Hospital.

News of the find spread quickly. Only the bare essentials were broadcast over the local radio stations but one person who head the broadcast was Detective Ken Hale of the Vancouver Police Homicide squad.

Hale arrived at the hospital at 9 pm to view the body. The condition of the victim made identification difficult but the body matched the general physical similarity to the description of the missing woman. Detective Hale notified his office and was joined by Detective Sergeant Sam Andrews and Detective Chapman.

Chapman and Andrews brought the missing person's report filed by Kathy Domphousse. She stated in the report that her mother had a scar on her knee. So did the unidentified corpse. Now, the detectives were even more sure this was the missing Pat Lowther.

Thanks to Joe Swan and the book Policebeat for the information above.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

The Interview

At 2 pm October 2, 1975, Roy Lowther walked into Detective Fred Menzies' office at the Vancouver Police Department. Lowther was a tall, thin man, casually dressed. His hair was grey-white and he had a white beard. He appeared nervous and he carefully weighed his words before answering questions.

Menzies asked when Lowther had last seen his wife. Lowther replied he and Pat had gone to bed the night of September 24 but when Roy woke the next day at 7 am, Pat was already awake. She had got up and left the room. Roy fell asleep for about an hour and then got the children ready for school. He noticed that his wife was not in the house. Their relationship had been strained for some time so when Pat didn't return by lunchtime, he thought she had left for good.

Lowther had a theory on what had happened to his wife. He produced two letters, which he claimed his wife had received from a male poet in Ontario. In his opinion, these letters suggested the two were lovers and Roy thought Pat had gone to Ontario to be with the other man.

After the interview, Menzies was not convinced Pat had left the home of her volition. He discussed the matter with his supervisor, Al Shepherd. Shepherd agreed the case didn't look right and assigned two homicide detectives to assist Menzies.

Roy Lowther was called back to the police station on October 7 for another interview. This time, Menzies was joined by Detectives Roy Chapman and Ken Hale. Lowther repeated the story he had told five days earlier but with one added detail. This time, he claimed he heard the front door slam around 7:15 am.

The detectives asked Lowther to take a polygraph exam but he declined, saying he didn't believe in them. He did agree to allow Hale and Chapman to view his home.  They explained it was part of any missing person case.

At 11:30, Lowther and the detectives entered his home at 566 East 46th. The detectives made a hasty inspection of the home and asked Lowther if he could determine if any of his wife's items were missing. Lowther claimed all he could find missing was an old suitcase, an off-white poncho, a pair of yellow shoes and his wife's toothbrush.

The detectives asked for a photo of his wife but Lowther said he didn't have one. When pushed, Lowther produced a book of poetry titled Mountain Day Moving. Inside was a small, unclear photo of Pat Lowther. Detective Hale glanced at a few of the poems before saying,

"This modern stuff isn't really my style. I prefer Kipling, that's more in my line." Lowther agreed with him and the detectives got the impression he didn't think highly of his wife's work. Lowther also mentioned that his children were staying on Mayne Island and he would be joining them in a couple of days.

The mystery deepens! Where is the missing poet, Pat Lowther? I will tell you more next week.

Thanks for the Joe Swan and the book Policebeat for this interesting story.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

A Tale of Two

When I left you on Monday, Kathy Domphousse  had reported to Detective Menzies of the Vancouver Police Department that her mother, poet Pat Lowther, was missing. Menzies had phoned Kathy's stepfather, Roy Lowther, and arranged an interview for the following day. Then he had gone to work, researching the two people.

Roy was born in Britania Beach, BC and at the time of this event, 1975, was fifty-one years old. As a child, he was described as brilliant and was admitted to university at the age of fourteen. He became a Communist and in 1946 was deported from the United States on the grounds of his political activities in the Berkley, California area.

Once home in Canada, he got married. However, in 1961 he assaulted his wife and wound up in Essondale hospital for two months. That marriage ended in divorce in 1963 - the same year he married Pat Domphousse.

Pat was 11 years younger than Roy. Like him, she was an intelligent and talented child. She had written her first verse at the age of three and won a poetry contest by the time she was ten.

At the age of 16, Pat left school and worked at a series of office jobs. She never gave up on her writing though. An early marriage had failed but left her with her daughter, Kathy Domphousse.

When Pat began to get involved in left-wing politics, she met Roy Lowther. Lowther was an avid environmentalist, before it was fashionable to be so, and this theme showed in many of his poems. He was unemployed at the time. He was managing editor of a poetry magazine for the Vancouver Writer's Guild.

According to friends of the Lowthers, the marriage started very happily. Two children were born during the early years and things looked good.

Roy taught school in Maple Ridge and Coquitlam but was later demoted to substitute teacher and, in 1971, he stopped teaching altogether.  Pat's success progressed though and the marriage began to fall apart.

Pat found solace from her unhappy marriage in her poetry and was finally being recognized for her work. In 1968, her first book was published. But her friends saw that she remained unhappy in the marriage and they suspected Roy was abusing her. Her friends offered to help her get out of her situation. They even rented a truck to help her move.

But Pat was unable to make the final break.

I would like to thank the book Policebeat and its author, Joe Swan, for the information above. I will tell you more about this case on Friday.

Once again, the photos are of the Commercial Drive area in Vancouver.

I hope you find the beauty around you.