Integrated Homicide Investigation Team investigators returned to Bowen Island this week to pursue leads in the nearly two-decade disappearance of 17-year-old Jodi Henrickson.
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Investigators from the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team returned to Bowen Island this week as the search for 17-year-old Jodi Henrickson continues nearly two decades after she vanished.
Henrickson disappeared after a house party on Bowen Island in June 2009. She was from Squamish, and her disappearance has remained unresolved, with no remains found and no charges laid in the case.
Global News reports that police have been back on the island recently, following ongoing public speculation about what may have happened. The renewed police activity is focused on an area near the family property, according to questions put to Henrickson’s ex-boyfriend.
Henrickson’s ex-boyfriend, Gavin Arnott, was in court in Alberta on an unrelated matter during the same week the Bowen Island search took place. Global News asked him about the police activity near his family’s property.
Arnott said police “haven’t” found anything in the 20 years since Henrickson went missing, and that he does not believe investigators will find new evidence that would implicate him. He also said there is “nothing” that ties him to Henrickson’s disappearance.
Police had identified Arnott as a “person of interest” early in the investigation, and that status remains unchanged, according to information provided by IHIT. The reporting also notes that the case includes earlier criminal proceedings involving Arnott and Henrickson before her disappearance.
Two weeks before the June 2009 party, Arnott—then 19—was convicted of assaulting Henrickson, who was 17. He received a conditional discharge and was prohibited from contacting her as part of probation conditions.
Henrickson has never been found. According to the reporting, the absence of a resolution has meant no homicide charges have been laid, leaving the investigation to rely on leads and renewed evidence searches over the years.
In response to questions about the latest police activity, IHIT said investigators did not locate Henrickson’s remains during this effort and that a dedicated cold case team is committed to exhausting every lead. IHIT also reiterated that a person of interest identified early in the investigation remains unchanged.
The Bowen Island search follows earlier police activity in the same general area in November 2024, when cadaver dogs associated with a film crew reportedly alerted on something. Details of what the dogs alerted to were not revealed at the time, but police later conducted a search without disclosing specific findings.
For Henrickson’s family, the renewed police presence underscores the ongoing uncertainty. Her brother, Rob Henrickson, told Global News that they need to know what happened and that, as of now, they have “absolutely no idea” what occurred that night.
While the latest development has not produced remains, IHIT’s statement that it has a dedicated cold case team and is exhausting leads indicates investigators may continue to revisit areas tied to early aspects of the case. For Vancouver-area readers, the update serves as a reminder of a long-running local missing persons investigation that has drawn repeated scrutiny and public attention since June 2009.
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