By Geoff Smith (@smithco on Twitter)

Sisters missing for decades found alive in U.S.

Mar 2, 2017 | 11:44 AM

LETHBRIDGE – Two women, reported missing in Lethbridge in 2003, are alive and well and living with new names in the U.S.

Anna and Kym Hakze hadn’t been seen by family members since the mid 1980s. They’re now 67 and 53 and weren’t even aware they were considered missing until police tracked down Kym and confirmed the sisters’ identities and whereabouts.

In fact, Anna has written several books under a different name, and it was an old ad for one of those books, saved by a woman with that same name in Vancouver, that turned out to be the crucial link in the investigation.

“From that, the officer did some open-source checking on the book, which also led to a recent news story that just happened to be online with that, and a recent photo in an area where they believed the author was living,” explained S/Sgt. Scott Woods.

He said “family turmoil” had led the women to move on and start new lives. Police are not revealing their new names to protect their privacy. Their mother, who reported them missing, is no longer living, but other siblings have been notified.

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Woods said the information that they might have been in Vancouver even led investigators to look into whether they may have been victims of serial killer Robert Pickton, but DNA tests came back negative. When the case was included in a 2015 news release about outstanding missing persons cases, several tips came in but nothing that led to its resolution.

Cases such as this one are regularly reviewed, and looked over by different people who might catch a previously overlooked detail. To come up with good news at the end is rare.

“We deal so much in the reality of tragedy and having to give families a lot of difficult news.” Woods said. “So to actually be able to go to a family and give them the closure on a positive note… it’s one of those ones, we’re certainly going to enjoy it, as I’m sure the family’s relieved, we’re relieved to have it off the books as well.”