Ron Musfelt says he is the former boyfriend of Colleen MacMillen, a Lac la Hache teen murdered in 1974, and he is speaking openly to the community.
MacMillen’s killer was recently been identified as deceased American convict Bobby Jack Fowler. Improved DNA evidence matched to him via international databases.
Musfelt says he was 21 years old at the time he was dating MacMillen who was 16.
He explains she was hitchhiking her way a short distance south to meet him when she disappeared, and he was the last person to speak to her when they talked on the phone before MacMillen left home.
Considered a key suspect at the time, Musfelt notes that despite extensive questioning by police, including a lie detector test, he has lived under a cloud of public suspicion for years.
Now, Musfelt wants people to know MacMillen’s killer has been found, which proves his innocence.
“The RCMP interrogated me big time on that, and all of these years I’ve carried a big burden.
“I mean, knowing I was standing on the side of the highway by K&D General Store in Lac la Hache, waiting for her … and not knowing that she probably was in the vehicle with this guy and drove right past me, and she probably wanted to get out and he wouldn’t let her out.”
Now, almost 40 years later, Musfelt lives in Prince George and has been married for 15 years to a registered nurse, but says he still thinks about MacMillen.
“I’d see the missing women’s list and I’d always see Colleen’s picture on there. It’s really hard….”
Although the killer has been identified, he doesn’t feel much better, and says “closure never really comes,” because it will never bring her back.
“I went through some bad stuff over the years, and I want to let people know that I had nothing to do with this. She was my girlfriend and I loved her and I missed her.”
