Kerrie Ann Brown's brother hopes Twitter campaign will uncover new leads

The family of Kerrie Ann Brown hopes a Twitter campaign that put the northern Manitoba teen's violent death front and centre will bring fresh leads in the 30-year-old cold case.

• RCMP use Twitter to relive Kerrie Ann Brown's last day alive, drum up tips in cold case

The Manitoba RCMP told Brown's story on the social media platform all day Sunday, tweeting in the 15-year-old girl's voice and detailing her last hours alive in Thompson on Oct. 16, 1986.

It was a first for the RCMP and a unique way to renew public awareness of the case, said Trevor Brown, one of the teen's brothers.

"It was a neat idea. I never would have considered it," he told CBC News on Monday.

Brown said he does not have a Twitter account, but he followed the story about his sister on Sunday and heard from those who knew her.

"From what I understand, it was blowing up for a while there yesterday," he said.

"She was trending for Canada, apparently, at one point too, so that was good to see. That's all we really wanted, was to see her trending and know people were talking about her and that she was reaching eyes and ears right across Canada."

Kerrie vanished from a party in Thompson on Oct. 16, 1986. Her badly beaten body was found two days later along a horse-riding trail.

People come forward online

The RCMP's tweets, using the hashtag #kerrie, were timed to correspond with moments in the teen's day, based on information provided by her family, friends and other witnesses.

"She was with people her entire day, so from waking up in the morning until her disappearance at 11:55 p.m., she was with someone. So we had a very clear indication of what she was doing that day," said Robert Cyrenne, the RCMP's director of communications and media relations in Manitoba.

RCMP use Twitter to relive Kerrie Ann Brown's last day alive, drum up tips in cold case

8 years ago

Duration 2:09

RCMP Manitoba transformed its Twitter account Sunday, tweeting in the voice of homicide victim Kerrie Ann Brown as part of an effort to drum up new leads in a 30-year-old cold case.

"What we want to do with Twitter was tell people about her day and also tell the people about who she was as a person. So we walked them through it … maybe to generate information. Maybe someone saw her."

Cyrenne said that it's still too early to say exactly how many people the Twitter campaign reached, or how many tips have come in as a result, but people are contacting investigators as well as sharing her story.

"We see old classmates writing about Kerrie, we see neighbours who were there around that night talking. We've received some private messages about people remembering things of that evening," he said.

"It's unbelievable that people now, even from 30 years ago, are remembering and are coming forward with new information. That was our goal and it's been very rewarding."

Cyrenne added that tweeting as the slain 15-year-old was an emotional experience for him and others who were involved.

"Writing it in that voice and learning about her — her favourite hockey team, that she was feisty, that she loved to run, she could outrun her brothers — it really made her come back to life for us, and it was emotional."

Brown said the last 30 years have been difficult for him and his family, and they want answers.

"Literally to the day almost here, 11,000 nights since this happened," he said.

"We haven't slept very well as a family, and it's a terrible thing to have to go through. I wouldn't wish it on anybody, and we're just looking for answers and hoping to find some justice for Kerrie."

Anyone with information related to Kerrie Brown's case is asked to call Thompson RCMP at (204) 677-6909 or Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).