Standard, Alberta

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Village of Standard had a population of 353 living in 151 of its 160 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 353. With a land area of 2.34 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Village of Standard recorded a population of 353 living in 148 of its 150 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 379. With a land area of 2.35 km2, it had a population density of in 2016.

The murder of Kelly Cook

Standard is known in Alberta for the tragic abduction and murder of one of its residents, 15-year-old Kelly Cook, in 1981. The Grade 10 student regularly babysat for townsfolk, and on the morning of April 22, 1981, she received a phone call from a man who identified himself as Bill Christensen. He asked her to babysit for him that evening. Although she did not know the caller, she agreed, as 'Christensen' was a common surname in the area and crime was virtually unknown in the village, with residents routinely leaving their doors unlocked. The caller arranged to pick Kelly up that evening and drive her to his residence. At 8:30 that evening, a car pulled up in front of the house where she lived with her parents and siblings. The driver did not leave his car, and Kelly walked out of her house and climbed into the automobile's front passenger seat. The car then immediately drove off. A few hours later, her anxious parents, concerned that Kelly had not called or returned home, called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. A massive local search was launched but yielded almost no clues. Two months after her abduction, on June 28, her badly decomposed body was discovered by a young man riding his dirt bike in Chin Lakes, an irrigation canal south of the Town of Taber, southeast of her hometown of Standard. The case caught the public's attention like few other murder cases because it was so unusual, with the killer actually picking up his victim at her house while her mother watched through the window. Despite the publicity generated by this murder case, and a $100,000 reward offered by the Village of Standard for information leading to the arrest of Kelly's killer, the case currently remains unsolved.

References

References

1. {{AMOS
2. (October 21, 2016). "Location and History Profile: Village of Standard". [[Alberta Municipal Affairs]].
4. (February 9, 2022). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities)". [[Statistics Canada]].
5. (February 8, 2017). "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2016 and 2011 censuses – 100% data (Alberta)". [[Statistics Canada]].
6. [http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cold_case/cook_kelly_e.htm RCMP cold case report on murder of Kelly Cook] {{webarchive. link. (March 11, 2007)
7. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311051706/http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cold_case/cook_kelly_e.htm archive.org copy of RCMP cold case report on murder of Kelly Cook]