EARLY LIFE:
Susan Assin was born in the 1950s to Daisy Quoquat and John Louie Assin. She was raised on the Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation in northwestern Ontario with her 10 siblings, including Irene, Darlene, Linda, Floyd, Maxine, Katherine, Ira, Joyce and Josie Ann.
By the time she was 20 years old, Susan had begun to struggle with drugs and alcohol. She also suffered from violent fits on occasion. She would frequently travel to Kenora, Ontario, located approximately 80km away, to visit friends and family, with Joyce saying her sister’s “life was in Kenora.”
MURDER:
On June 13, 1974, Susan travelled to Kenora to spend the week with friends and family. She disappeared four days later, on June 17, with her body eventually being found 14.8km north of Highway 17, just off Jones Road. She was reportedly only wearing her socks.
The Assin family and the Ontario Provincial Police differ on what they say was Susan’s cause of death. The official cause is that she was stabbed to death, with signs of blunt force trauma to her head, while the family claim she was either stoned to death or killed with a screwdriver.
INVESTIGATION:
Prior to her own death in February 2021, Joyce told the CBC that, while Susan was living what many would consider a high-risk lifestyle, she can’t understand why someone would have taken her life.
Very few leads have been collected over the course of the nearly 50-year investigation, with Joyce claiming it had been a long time since anyone with the OPP had properly investigated the case. She also revealed that officers no longer communicate with the family. In response to these claims, the OPP stated that they never close an open homicide case.
CASE CONTACT INFORMATION:
The OPP is currently offering a $50,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for Susan’s murder.
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact the Criminal Investigation Branch of the OPP at +1 (888) 310-1122 or the Kenora detachment at +1 (807) 548-4434. Tips can also be submitted anonymously via Crime Stoppers at +1 (800) 222-8477.
Image Credit: Ontario Provincial Police
Stories of the Unsolved 