When two teenage boys vanish in 1989, their whereabouts are a mystery for years until skulls start popping up in British Columbia’s Stanley Park. What happened to Ramsey Rioux and Kenneth Lutz is a mystery that still haunts Vancouver.
- Vancouver Police Department Homicide Unit (604) 717-2500
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Email address: coldcase@vpd.ca,
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Websites:
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Ramsey Rioux (Photo Source) The Province
Kenneth Lutz (Photo Source) The Province
Initial composite sketch of indigenous/Asian individual with feminine features based on 1990 skull (Photo Source) Cold Case Canada: Boys in the Woods. Season 5. Episode 51. Published April 30, 2025. By Eve Lazarus.
October 1998 search of Stanley Park for evidence related to the boys’ deaths (Photo Source) David Clark for Canadian Press via The Times Colonist
Kenneth Lutz Sr. (Photo Source) Bill Keay for The Vancouver Sun
Cold case Detective Al Cattley (Photo Source) The Province: Serial killer theory in teens’ murder. By Greg Middleton. Published November 22, 1998. Accessed November 8, 2025. Via newspapers.com.
Stanley Park British Columbia Image (Source) Madeleine de Trenqualye for Vancouver Heritage Site Finder
Stanley Park British Columbia Map (Source) Google Maps
Episode Source Material
- A&E: Cold Case Files, Season 1, Episode 5 Segment. “The Skulls of Stanley Park” January 29, 1999. Via Youtube.
- Cold Case Canada: Boys in the Woods. Season 5. Episode 51. By Eve Lazarus.
- The Province: Boys sorely missed. By Steve Berry. Via newspapers.com.
- The Abbotsford News: Slow results in tip. By Steve Greenwood. Via newspapers.com.
- Star-Phoenix: Missing. By Staff. Via newspapers.com.
- The Province: DNA testing explodes. By Staff. Via newspapers.com.
- The Province: Exploring the dark side of the park. By Shane McCune. Via newspapers.com.
- Times Colonist (CP): Search renewed for missing boys. By Staff. Via newspapers.com.
- Nanaimo Daily News (CP): Findings may help solve mystery of missing kids. By Staff. Via newspapers.com.
- The Vancouver Sun: Searchers comb Stanley Park for boys missing since 1989. By Chad Skelton. Via newspapers.com
- Edmonton Journal: Findings may help solve 10-year mystery. By staff. Via newspapers.com.
- The Province: Stanley Park searchers find clues for cops. By Lora Grindlay. Via newspapers.com.
- The Vancouver Sun: Police claims leads in case of ’89 missing boys. By staff. Via newspapers.com.
- The Province: Cops to tipster: Please call back. By Staff. Via newspapers.com.
- The Vancouver Sun: Police seek more details from mystery caller. By staff. Via newspapers.com.
- National Post: Stanley Park murder points to a serial killer. By Mark Hume. Via newspapers.com.
- The Province: Serial killer theory in teens’ murder. By Greg Middleton. Via newspapers.com.
- Calgary Herald: Boy’s deaths may be linked to serial killer, say police. By staff. Via newspapers.com.
- The Vancouver Sun: Police seek links in suspected dual killing. By Catherine Porter. Via newspapers.com.
- The Tribune: Man had skull from old double murder. By staff. Via newspapers.com.
- National Post: Second skull identified in Stanley Park killings of native teenagers. By Drew Hasselback. Via newspapers.com
- The Vancouver Sun: Missing boy’s skull sat on shelf 3 years. By Lindsay Kines. Via newspapers.com.
- The Province: Discovery of son’s skull a first step. By Brian Foden. Via newspapers.com.
- The Vancouver Sun: Kenneth Lutz and Ramsey Rioux. Via newspapers.com.
- Find a Grave: Ramsey Dean Rioux.