Mum discovers body of strangled daughter after police missed it

Aspiring flight attendant Tess Richey was on a post break-up night out when a chance encounter snatched away her future

- GAIL SHORTLAND

Seeing the world was something Tess Richey had long dreamed of. The youngest of five daughters from North Bay, Ontario, Canada, at 19 she moved to Toronto to set her plans into motion. Having completed a flight attendant course, she was applying for jobs with airlines.

While Tess, then 22, waited for her career to take off, she juggled several jobs, including one at a coffee bar. She’d also started studying Italian with the idea of becoming an au pair in Italy. At 5ft 2in, she might have been petite in stature, but she was a determined young woman.

On 24 November 2017, Tess had recently broken up with her boyfriend and spent the afternoon with her sister, Rachel, who lived in midtown Toronto. She left about 11.30pm to meet an old school friend who’d recently moved to the area.

They went to Crews & Tangos, a drag bar in the gay district of Church and Wellesley, where they danced until the early hours. Afterwards, they chatted to people outside before getting some street food. The two ended up on Dundonald Street, talking to a woman outside her house and a man who’d been in the bar. Her friend then headed home, safe in the knowledge that Tess had called an Uber.

The next morning Rachel texted her sister to ask how her night had gone. When Tess didn’t reply, Rachel assumed she'd overslept. But by the end of the day, she was desperately worried. She called the police and began checking local hospitals. Records showed that Tess hadn't met the Uber she'd ordered and the driver had left without her.