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This week marks the 30th anniversary of the unsolved slaying of Sonya Cywink, prompting Ontario Provincial Police to promote a $60,000 reward for any information that leads to arrests in the mystery that began when she was last seen alive in London on Aug. 26, 1994, and found dead four days later. The Free Press has extensively covered the case, including this story that was first published on Aug. 13, 2019.
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Sonya Cywink’s father died before his daughter’s killer was ever brought to justice.
For Cywink’s older sister, Maggie, that has compounded the grief of losing her sibling, who was pregnant when she was found dead on a historical Indigenous settlement southwest of St. Thomas 25 years ago, on Aug. 30, 1994.
“There was no closure. There were no answers for him to find out what really happened to his little girl,” Maggie Cywink, who has been leading the family’s push for answers in the cold case, said from Manitoulin Island.
Now, the family and the Ontario Provincial Police have partnered to erect two billboards in London appealing to the public for information in the unsolved homicide.
Family members will also travel to London later this month to canvas the area around Dundas and Lyle streets, where Cywink was last seen alive on Aug. 26, 1994.
Her body was found four days later – showing signs of blunt force trauma, and wearing only a T-shirt and socks – at Southwold Earthworks, a former Indigenous community on Iona Road in Elgin County.
Cywink, who was originally from Whitefish River First Nation in northern Ontario, came to London for substance abuse treatment, her sister said, adding she was clean for 10 months before relapsing and working in the sex trade.
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“Unfortunately, she got mixed up with the wrong crowd,” the elder Cywink said.
Adding to the family’s grief, Cywick was 24-weeks pregnant at the time of her death, her sister said.
“So we named her baby Jacob in honour of the life that he would have lived. We want to make his life real as well,” she said.
The two billboards in London – one at Horton and Maitland streets, the other at Maitland and Dundas streets – will remain up until the end of September.
“Twenty-five years later, people tend to change and grow. Hopefully, somebody will come forward and talk to us about what really went on,” Elgin County OPP Const. Adam Crewdson said.
The OPP is also rolling out a social media campaign on the case, featuring videos later this month highlighting the investigation that’s being led by Det. Insp. Randy Gaynor.
Two years ago, police announced a $50,000 reward – the Cywink family put up an additional $10,000 – for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for her death.
“She was loved and we miss her dearly,” Maggie Cywink said of her sister.
Anyone with information should call the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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