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By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

family continues plea for information

Mother of cyclist killed in Red Deer nearly two years ago: “Someone out there knows”

Feb 1, 2024 | 5:00 PM

It’s been nearly 19 months since the tragic day, July 6, 2022, that 45-year-old Heather Lawrence was killed just south of Red Deer while riding her bike.

The person responsible has never come forward nor been identified, though a suspect vehicle was.

For the first half of 2023, three billboards featuring the suspect vehicle were erected in Red Deer, in hopes someone would come forward with crucial information. Though those billboards have come down, RCMP say their investigation continues.

“We are very appreciative of the tips brought in by the billboard and just the general awareness that it brought,” says Alberta RCMP.

“We haven’t located the vehicle yet and are still looking for it. If we can push for the tips again, that would be great. The file is still actively being investigated and all avenues are being exhausted.”

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A pediatric physiotherapist in Red Deer, Lawrence was an avid cyclist whose absence continues to be the source of anguish, her mother Marlene told rdnewsNOW in a late January 2024 interview.

This billboard was up in three spots around Red Deer for the early part of 2023. (RCMP)

“It’s like it just happened yesterday. What I’d like to say to the person responsible is a question I always find really, really difficult because what do you say to someone who basically doesn’t seem to have any moral compass? If they haven’t given themselves up by now, I don’t think anything I could say would have an effect,” Lawrence laments.

“I don’t have a whole lot to say to that person other than I don’t know how you live with yourself after taking another person’s life. I’m hoping still that someone who knows something will finally feel enough guilt or anxiety to come forward and speak up. Someone out there knows who did this.”

Lawrence praises the RCMP’s efforts and is grateful for their persistence.

“My biggest fear has been that she’d be sort of relegated to the back-burner, but that hasn’t happened. I hope and pray for a break in the case some day,” says Lawrence, who reminisces about the days she and Heather would watch the Tour de France together, over the phone from different locations.

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“Every day is difficult, and some days it’s closer to the surface. I’ll never get over it; it just won’t happen. We’re learning to live with it and trying to come to grips with it. But you know, she had so much left to give and share, and we’ve all been robbed of her presence.”

Heather’s father Stu passed away in May 2023, 10 months after the hit and run. He’s now buried next to his daughter at Alto Reste Cemetery in Red Deer.

Marlene shares that the family, especially Heather’s siblings Shane and Amanda, also dearly miss their sis, who was the middle child. The trio had a close relationship and the trauma of dealing with Heather’s loss is an ongoing struggle, Lawrence says, adding that Heather factored large in the lives of them and their children — Heather’s nephews and nieces — who miss her deeply.

In the meantime, Heather’s memory keeps going through memorial bike rides.

“Whether it be the cycling world or the health care industry, it’s heartwarming that people continue to talk about her and the impact she had on people that interacted with her,” says Manon Therriault, who was Heather’s best friend. “It just keeps going and it speaks to who she was.”

The Red Deer Regional Health Foundation, led by CEO Therriault, holds the annual Cycle for Central Alberta. Last year and this year, the event was and will be dedicated to Heather. More details are to come, but Therriault says the ride will run the entire month of May, and let participants log their rides over the course of the month.

Then, the Central Alberta Bike Club also hosts a ride, this year on July 7 — the Sunday nearest the day Heather died.

“We continue to be amazed at the influence Heather had in her community and are grateful for the ongoing attention to her tragic story,” Marlene Lawrence concludes. “Hopefully one day justice will be served.”

If you have any information about the circumstances surrounding the July 6, 2022 death of Heather Lawrence, which occurred at about 6:45 p.m. on the 40 Avenue (RR 273) extension near McKenzie Road in Red Deer County, contact Blackfalds RCMP at 403-885-3300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

READ MORE

• Mother of killed Red Deer cyclist pleads for culprit to come forward (August 2022)
• Local Mounties launch billboard campaign in hopes of identifying fatal hit and run suspect
• Charity ride invites central Albertans to cycle, run, or walk for a cause
• OBIT: Heather Elizabeth Lawrence

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