Highway 1 memorial cross near Emerald Park goes missing

In 1974, 11-year-old Susan Lapchuk was struck and killed while riding her bicycle along Highway 1. Now, 45 years later, her family is forced to relive the tragedy after discovering her memorial cross is missing.

Susan’s brother, Doug Lapchuk, said his parents first noticed the cross was gone on July 14 while on their way to Emerald Park for coffee. While driving eastbound on the Trans Canada, Lapchuck said they glanced over at the south ditch between Ramm Avenue and Highway 1 only to see a lonely vase filled with flowers.

At first, Lapchuck thought a vehicle had hit the ditch and ran into the memorial, possibly throwing the cross into the tall grass. However, after searching the area multiple times by foot and quad to no avail, he’s now convinced it was stolen.

“We’ve checked with (the Ministry of Highways), the (rural) municipality and the town — everyone who would have something to do with that stretch of road — and nobody has said that they’ve taken it, so we’re assuming it’s a random act of vandalism,” he said.

Lapchuck added having part of the memorial missing is taking an emotional toll on his family.

“My mother is well into her ’80s and she feels like she’s losing (Susan) again,” he explained. “She doesn’t understand why someone would do something like that. It isn’t a huge monetary value — it isn’t anything somebody could take and sell or anything like that. She doesn’t quite understand how someone could be that rude, insensitive and uncaring.”

The memorial was initially put up 15 years ago by Lapchuck’s brother and some family friends. The cross is handmade out of spruce with a brass plaque outlining the day Susan was born and the day she died. Lapchuck said it’s touched up every spring to look fresh for the summer, and this year in particular the cross was re-done.

Lapchuck said his family has put out notices on social media, and filed reports with the RCMP and community safety officers in the RM of Edenwold in hopes of being reunited with the beloved memorial.

As for those who might know where the cross is, Lapchuck said he has one message for them: “Just give it back to us. I’ve got no interest in retribution — I’ve got no interest in anything other than getting the cross back and giving my parents some kind of peace of mind.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Nathan Meyer