CHARGE LAID IN SLAYING OF ADDICT

Man Accused In 'Poster' Girl's Death

A Vancouver man has been charged in connection with the death last December
of 26-year-old April Lynn Reoch, whose body was found in a duffel bag
outside her Downtown Eastside apartment.

Ian Mathieson Rowe, 39, is charged with second-degree murder in the death
of Reoch, whose body was found at 9:30 a.m. Christmas Day by a janitor at
the social housing complex where she lived on East Hastings.

Her body had been placed in a fabric bag and left in a garbage area at the
rear of the building in a common area accessible only to residents of the
building.

Detective Scott Driemel refused Wednesday to release any details about her
death.

Reoch was a drug user and prostitute who had been profiled in a Vancouver
police film documentary on street life.

Constable Al Arsenault was part of a team of officers known as the Odd
Squad that made the National Film Board documentary, Through a Blue Lens.
The film followed the lives of Reoch and others as they battled drug
addiction on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Arsenault said in December that Reoch, who left an 11-year-old son, had
relapsed after one of several failed bids to kick her habit at a recovery
house.

"I was kind of hopeful that she would be able to recover, but it's such a
difficult process," he said. "Slipping into drug use is so easy and getting
out is so difficult."

He first met Reoch seven years ago when the beautiful, red-headed teenager
first arrived on city streets.

Although he warned her about the risky life that lay ahead of her, she
became addicted to drugs and worked as a prostitute.

He took pictures of her when her face was covered with scabs and began
showing slides to school kids. "Essentially, she became our poster girl
for drug abuse. She wanted her story told as a warning to others."

Arsenault said Reoch provided a great service to the community in
attempting to educate youth about the perils of drug abuse.