Ontario Provincial Police haven’t given up hope they will solve the suspicious death of a woman whose remains were found near Rockwood, Ont., in 2005.
They also believe truck drivers have the crucial clue that would close the case.
A body was discovered in a wooded rest area along Highway 7, between Rockwood and Guelph, on Aug. 28, 2005. Her name remained a mystery for almost 19 years.
In April 2024, she was identified as 41-year-old Tammy Eileen Penner. Police said investigative genetic genealogy helped establish a presumptive identification, which was confirmed by comparing her DNA to family members.
While investigators now know who she is, there are still no answers about what happened to Penner or how she ended up in the area.
Discovery of remains
A passerby who was walking near the rest area was the one who made the disturbing discovery.
OPP said investigators didn’t know much about the woman but believed she was left there about a month before her body was found.
“They quickly determined that the body had been dragged into the bush area,” Det. Insp. Randy Gaynor told CTV News in September 2026.
She was covered by a ‘Woods’-branded sleeping bag, and investigators determined her clothing had been purchased in the Montreal area.
The woman also had a partial denture to replace two missing upper teeth. Police said that was related to a previous fracture of her cheekbone, nose and left eye socket, which had healed before her death.
A $50,000 reward was offered in 2010 for information that led to the woman’s identification.
Identifying Tammy
By 2022, investigators had turned to forensic and investigative genetic genealogy (IGG).
They submitted a DNA sample, which came back with a potential match in early 2024.
Police said additional testing confirmed it was Tammy Eileen Penner of Chilliwack, B.C.
CTV News asked investigators why it took so long to get a positive match.
“Tammy was in somewhat of a decomposed condition when she was found,” Gaynor explained. “That’s why the identity was difficult to make.”
“The length of time for IGG analysis varies depending on several circumstances, including [the] traditional genealogy process or the time spent creating a profile from a DNA sample,” Agata Czajkowski, a strategic communications advisor for the OPP’s Criminal Investigation Branch, said in 2024. “Additionally, the only certified/accredited labs that perform IGG are located in the United States, which will increase the time it takes to receive results.”
While Penner had been identified, there were still questions surrounding her cause of death.
Retracing Tammy’s steps
Police said Penner travelled from Chilliwack to Abbotsford, B.C., before making her way to Ontario.
“In June of 2005, she was at Mountain View Mall in Midland, Ont., and subsequently around the time of Saturday, July 30, 2005, she was dropped off at the now-closed Husky Truck Stop, [located on] Highway 401 and Dixie Road in Mississauga,” Gaynor said.
Penner was also spotted near a cream or beige-coloured transport truck shortly after she was dropped off and may have been wearing a beige tank top, black corduroy shorts and carrying a blue sleeping bag.
Investigators would like to speak to anyone who worked at or visited the truck stop in the summer of 2005 and remember seeing Penner or the people she was travelling with.
“We believe that truck drivers out there would know Penner or know about her,” Gaynor said.
Investigators still trying to establish a timeline
Police said there is still a significant gap between those last reported sightings and the discovery of Penner’s remains.
Investigators are trying to piece together her movements during the final weeks of her life, including how she ended up at the rest area along Highway 7.
“At that point in time, the family knew that she was travelling back and forth from Alberta to Ontario, but they didn’t have specifics,” Gaynor said. “There’s several months in between her last sighting in Midland, when we know that she was dropped off, and then there’s a month until she’s found.”
Teams have searched the wooded area where her remains were found but those searches have not turned up any additional clues.
‘Someone out there knows about Tammy’
The investigation remains active more than 20 years after Penner’s death.
“Someone out there knows about Tammy. They know Tammy. They know about her travels. They know who her associates were,” Gaynor insisted. “We ask them to please come forward so we can get more about the circumstances surrounding her death and provide them to the family.”
Police said any recollection, no matter how insignificant it may seem, could help move the investigation forward.
Roadside memorial
A memorial for the then-unidentified woman was established by the Rockwood Knights of Columbus with the hope it would elicit new tips in the case.
Today, Penner is remembered with a memorial stone, sign and bench near the site where she was discovered. Police said those have been maintained by a dedicated member of the public.
Anyone with information about Penner, her movements in Ontario prior to Aug. 28, 2005, or the circumstances surrounding her death is asked to contact the Ontario Provincial Police.
This is part of an ongoing series dedicated to cold and unsolved cases in southwestern Ontario. More stories can be found at Unsolved 519.
