BUENA VISTA, Pa. - Inside the home’s front door lay a bare, blood-soaked mattress and box spring.

The house was infested with fleas, the plumbing was backed up, much of the furniture was broken and the stench of cat urine filled the air.

Matthew Booth, 34, was lying face-up on the mattress when he was shot in the head early July 30. His 13-year-old daughter told investigators she used a 12-gauge shotgun to shoot him in the face, a crime that her attorney said was precipitated by years of sexual abuse.

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Ray Michalko, retired RCMP officer and private investigator, has been spending about 40 hours a week over the past 18 months investigating the disappearance of women along the infamous “highway of tears” in British Columbia, Canada. Michalko has found some leads he has been able to pass onto the RCMP. Since 1974, nine women have either turned up dead or have disappeared between Prince George and Prince Rupert on Highway 16, a section now known as the “highway of tears.” A group of women have founded a trust to provide funding for Michalko’s investigation.

On Monday, two families living hundreds of miles from each other, hundreds of miles from here, marked yet another anniversary without justice, without answers and without the son and daughter they lost to the horror of a July 16.

It was a sunny July 16 morning in 1998 when Scott Brewster’s nude and bludgeoned body was found facedown in a drainage ditch running through Snow Park. He was 26.

It was a rainy July 16 night in 1989 when Kaitlyn Arquette was shot twice in the head as she drove east on Lomas Boulevard near Arno Street Northeast. She was 18.

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Wrongful death lawsuits are very common. These lawsuits need to be filed within a specific timeframe in order to be successful. Time and evidence are essential in cases such as these, and a private investigator can be the best investment a plaintiff can make.

A wrongful death lawsuit usually occurs when a person causes a death through negligence. In some cases, the lawsuit arises when someone can be held liable for a death – whether or not it can be proven that negligence resulted in the death. Only specific people can file this sort of lawsuit. In almost all cases, only specific beneficiaries – usually a surviving spouse or child who was dependent on the deceased – can file a claim. In most states, wrongful death lawsuits are meant to help people recover the money that a deceased person would have earned if not for their death. These civil cases, therefore, are often about settlements, and the amount of money involved in these cases is quite large.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, almost 65% of wrongful death cases are medical malpractice cases. Automobile cases account for about 16% of wrongful death suits, with premises liability and product liability also accounting for some portion of wrongful death suits. Most wrongful death claims in court take place by jury trial.

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