Chantel GILLADE – Case Overview

Chantel Gillade was born Robert Gillade in 1967, and raised in the Niagara Falls region in Ontario. Most of us can only imagine what she would have faced as she dealt with her identity struggles, and the impact it would have on her life – particularly without any of the support systems in place today.

As a teenager, Chantel began using drugs, and by age 20, she had left home. Eight years later, her battered body would be found in a Vancouver alley, wrapped in a blue tarp and a maroon-coloured blanket.

When Chantel first came into contact with Vancouver Police in January of 1988, she was working in the sex trade, and identifying as a woman. Officers had a number of interactions with her over the next seven years in relation to sex work. During those years, Chantel lived in a number of apartments in the West End and Granville Mall area.

According to another sex worker, Chantel was picked up about 4:00 a.m. on September 1, 1995, at Davie and Seymour. The man was driving a black pick-up truck with a canopy, believed to have been a 1989 Chevrolet, with tinted windows and a distinctive red stripe painted on the side of the canopy.

Construction workers arriving at their worksite behind 826 Homer Street discovered her body a few hours later, around 7:20 a.m.

At the time of her death, Chantel was going through gender reassignment surgery. She was 5’11” and about 150 pounds, and was last seen wearing a black, double-breasted blazer, a black mini-skirt, black stockings and black heels.

No one wants to live in a world where people can kill without consequence. Chantel deserves justice. She was brutally murdered, and her body tossed away in an alley like trash. Someone knows what happened to her and who is responsible. Help us catch a killer.

This is an ongoing file. Please check back regularly for updates.