Kristen French

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Kristen Dawn French (May 10, 1976 – April 19, 1992) was a Canadian Catholic schoolgirl who resided in St. Catharines, Ontario until she was abducted, tortured, and murdered by Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo. She was held captive and tortured for three days, until they killed her on April 19, 1992.^[1] French was on her way home from Holy Cross Secondary School, a Catholic school in St. Catharines, Ontario when she was approached in a church parking lot by Homolka and Bernardo under the pretence of needing directions. While she assisted Homolka with the directions, Bernardo forced her into the car at knife point. ^[2]

Her naked body was found in a ditch several kilometres away in Burlington on April 30, 1992. There was physical evidence of torture and rape, and a videotape which Bernardo made of her captivity and torture later proved to be key evidence in his trial.

Her kidnapping was seen by eyewitnesses and was part of a series of disappearances of Ontario schoolgirls (another kidnapping, that of Leslie Mahaffy, was also due to Bernardo and K.Homolka, as was the fatal drug rape of K.Homolka's sister, Tammy Homolka), and received very wide coverage in Canadian newsmedia. Her murder and the subsequent criminal trials remain one of the best-known criminal cases in Canadian history.

While French was missing, her fellow students, teachers and friends at Holy Cross Secondary School chose the Green Ribbon of Hope as the symbol for their search. French's school community also gave the name to the Green Ribbon of Hope Campaign, a national campaign continued to this day by Child Find Canada, governments, organizations and individuals to raise funds and awareness for missing children.

The Green Ribbon Trail in St. Catharines was named in her honour. A monument to Kristen's memory stands at the beginning of the trail. The ribbon also gave its name to the Green Ribbon Task Force, the police group tasked with finding French and Mahaffy's killers, though they later found themselves embroiled in controversy over the role of media in police investigations.

Kristen French is remembered for declining cooperation with abductors in later period of abduction: "Some things are worth dying for." ^[3] She said to Bernardo:¨"I don't know how your wife can stand to be around you." On one of the memorials dedicated to her, it says "Her legacy proves an inspiration." ^[4]

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