VICTIM TRIED TO TURN LIFE AROUND

Bitter End To Family's Fight To Help Daughter; Sex-Trade Worker Grieves
Loss Of Friend

EDMONTON - The family of Charlene Marie Gauld did everything they could to
hold on to a daughter who was sinking into the depths of addiction.

On Monday, that struggle ended when RCMP identified the 20-year-old
sex-trade worker as the body found near Camrose on Saturday morning.

Mark Cherrington, an Edmonton youth worker who knew Gauld in her teens,
said her family had worked tirelessly to help their daughter conquer her
addictions.

"Her family went through extraordinary lengths to try to help," said
Cherrington, who said Gauld started working in the sex trade at age 15. "In
my 10 years working with youths, I've never seen a family work so hard.
They never gave up on her."

At one point, Gauld's family put sensors on the doors and windows of their
home so they knew if their daughter tried to leave the house. They also put
her in a variety of support programs in attempts to help her.

When Cherrington last saw Gauld a year ago, she seemed to be doing well and
getting back on track. However, it had been a long fight.

"It's something that really consumed her and ultimately, in part, led to
her downfall," he said.

Gauld is the 11th sex-trade worker found dead around Edmonton -- mostly in
fields east of the city -- in the last 16 years.

RCMP are classifying Gauld's death as suspicious until they can determine
the cause of death, but said it may become a homicide case.

She was found about 60 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, near Camrose, by
an oilwell maintenance worker.

On the streets where Gauld worked, her death was met with sadness.

"Oh no," said one trembling, drug-addicted prostitute when shown a picture
of Gauld. "Oh no. That's Charlene. Don't tell me she's dead."

It's become a tradition along 118th Avenue that when reporters ask about
prostitutes, their bodies have been found outside the city.

The horrified woman, who wanted to be called Julie, first met Gauld at
Kenilworth junior high school. Back then, Gauld was quiet, withdrawn,
innocent and pretty.

"She was shy and a loner," Julie said.

Julie met Gauld again several years later. This time it was at a drug
treatment centre where Gauld was trying to kick crack cocaine and perhaps
methamphetamines. The two girls talked about working the streets for drug
money and the risks involved in the trade.

"She was basically trying to get her life together," Julie said.

After leaving the detox centre, both girls went back to the life. Julie
said they lived together for a time in a ramshackle rooming house near 107A
Avenue and 85th Street in Little Italy, near the corners where Gauld worked.

"That was her home," Julie said. "But she never brought anyone there."

The man who owns the house in Little Italy denied Gauld ever roomed there
but admitted she did spend a lot of time there.

"This was just a meeting place for the girls," said the man, who wanted to
be called Fred. "It was kind of a social place, but sometimes they would
fall asleep and spend the night. This is where they planned their escapades
with men."

Fred said Gauld regularly moved back in with her parents in south Edmonton
and just as regularly left in a huff after a fallout with her mother or
father. That's where the child she had by a former boyfriend now lives,
said Fred.

"That was her pride and joy. I understand her mother has guardianship of
the kid."

Fred said he knew Gauld for perhaps 21/2 years. During that time she was
beaten up twice, but not badly. Just before she disappeared, he met her one
last time.

"She told me she wanted to get her life together and was going back into
detox again. But was she afraid? Not at all," said Fred. "I warned her a
couple of times to get the hell off the streets -- 'a pretty girl like you,
at your age, you're lucky if you last to 25.' "

Gauld's body was found less than 10 kilometres from where the body of
sex-trade worker Debbie Lake, 29, was found on April 12, 2003. RCMP aren't
connecting the death with any of the others that have come before, however.

"There is absolutely no evidence to link this to any other death at this
point in time," said Cpl. Wayne Oakes.

Investigators said Gauld's body and the surrounding area appeared to have
been burned.

"That's what jumped out at me," said Kate Quinn, the executive director of
the Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation of Edmonton. She said
she's become weary of hearing the bad news and seeing the fear in the girls
on the streets.

"It gets worse every time. We keep wondering when this is going to stop.
What do we have to do as a community to stop this? How do we stop this?"

Gauld, who went by the street name Roxanne, was last seen on April 8 and
was reported missing on April 13. She worked along 95th Street, from 101st
Avenue to 108A Avenue, a popular area for prostitutes. Investigators said
she died recently.

In February 2004, Gauld had registered with Project Kare, the RCMP's 30-man
task force that is investigating the deaths and disappearance of 82 men and
women with high-risk lifestyles in the Prairies. By registering, she
provided her name, date of birth, names of family members and friends,
places she hung out, identifying marks and a hair sample for DNA purposes.

Gauld was supposed to appear in court on April 13 for failing to comply
with a probation order. On that day, she was reported missing.

Kourch Chan, who runs Crossroads, an inner-city outreach program, said he
had previously worked with Gauld. "This is a tragedy," he said "It's a
complete tragedy when someone doesn't even make it to their 21st birthday.
It's a reminder that death and serious harm is a reality on the streets."

The Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation of Edmonton is planning a
rally at the legislature on Thursday to mourn and draw attention to the issue.

"We need help," Quinn said. "We can't keep carrying these losses sadly and
silently."

More safe houses for women on the streets and a greater emphasis on taking
down large-scale drug operations are needed to stop the tragedies, Quinn
said. "Another family is now devastated."

In the legislature on Monday, Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko said he has
every confidence in Project Kare's investigation and believes investigators
are making headway.

The Edmonton police department is still waiting for test results to tell
them how sex-trade worker Samantha Berg, 19, died. Her body was found
frozen to the ground in a parking lot behind a trucking company in January.
Her death has also been deemed suspicious.

The last confirmed homicide was Rachel Quinney, 19, whose battered body was
found in a grove of trees near Range Road 224 and Township Road 540 on June
11, 2004.