It’s been 28 years since Victoria couple Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook were found murdered during a trip into Washington state.
The case was never solved, and supporters are posting a new $25,000 reward for information that could lead to the arrest of the person or people responsible for the November 1987 crimes.
“The hope is, possibly someone from that time who knows something might come forward,” said Saanich Police Sgt. Steve Eassie. “Maybe something has happened or changed in their personal lives and they’re ready to come forward.”
Twenty-year-old Cook and 18-year-old Van Cuylenborg were a young couple running an errand to Washington state. They borrowed Cook’s father’s van to make the journey. They boarded the Coho Ferry on Nov. 18, 1987, crossing to Port Angeles. They were last seen alive in the Bremerton/Seattle area.
On Nov. 20, they were reported as missing. Four days later, Van Cuylenborg’s body was discovered on a rural road near Alger in Skagit County. She had been sexually assaulted and then shot.
Cook’s body was found on Nov. 26, south of Alger, near Monroe in Snohomish County. Cook had been beaten and strangled.
Following the discovery of their bodies, their van was located in Bellingham; the van was beside a Greyhound station and some of Van Cuylenborg’s belongings behind a nearby local tavern.
Anyone with information is asked to contact local police or Crime Stoppers, at 1-800-222-8477 or on the web at victoriacrimestoppers.com.
