http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2005/09/04/1201615-sun.html

I read that the murder of Corrine "Punky" Gustavson will be featured in a future episode of Cold Case Files. As mention in the article in question (go to the link above), Punky's mother, Karen Vallette, has agreed to appear in the segment.

For those who are unfamiliar with the case, Punky was the girl who, at the age of six, was abducted and murdered in Canada in 1992. UM aired a segment about the case during the 1993-94 season, but it wasn't until 2003 when an arrest was made in the case. A man named Clifford Sleigh was linked to the murder via DNA. He was convicted of Punky's murder, and sentenced to life in prison.

Around the time of Punky's murder, another little girl (age 3 at the time) was abducted, and almost murdered. That girl would most likely have died if she hadn't been found when she was. Although no one was ever arrested in that case (at least not to my knowledge), I suspect that Clifford Sleigh was the culprit.

The CCF episode on Punky's murder is currently being developed, so it's probably too soon to know exactly when the episode will air. But I would guess that it will be shown before the year is over.

The CCF episode had the following info:

-One of Corrine's relatives, I think it was an uncle or something, was one of the initial top suspects. I think he even worked where Corrine was found (or had access to there, or something). He was later cleared.

-The case was solved with the help of one determined investigator, Terry Alm (who was also in the UM segment) who refused to give up on the case, even after so many years had passed.

-The perp eventually admitted to raping Corrine, but claimed something to the effect of "She was still alive when I left her.", which was such a load of crap I wanted to reach through my screen and start beating him up.

I had totally forgotten about the part about Mandy at the beginning of this segment. What a HORRIBLE crime. I read the other day, and the UM piece didn't mention this, but in addition to being sexually assaulted, beaten and almost killed, she also was suffering from exposure due to being out in the Canada outdoors overnight.

I sincerely hope whoever is responsible is either dead or locked up for life.

Oh, and the re-enactment of it is extremely disturbing.