Philip Fraser was undoubtedly irritated. The twenty-three-year-old Anchorage, Alaska, man’s trip to the continental states had been beset with delays.

The son of two physicians, Philip planned to follow in his parents’ footsteps. On June 14, 1988, he packed his belongings and left Anchorage to enroll in a pre-med course at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. The 2,300 mile trip would take several days, and he incurred car troubles and a hang-up at the border. The delays cost Philip an additional two days and may also have cost him his life.

Had Philip Fraser been able to stay on schedule, he likely would not have encountered the man who killed him.

Philip Fraser

Philip arrived at the Alaska border to enter Canada on June 17. He was delayed another hour after declaring he had two guns. The weapons were seized by Canadian customs because, at the time, Americans could not enter Canada with any sort of firearm.

Guns Confiscated At The Border

The following day, June 18, a hitchhiker was dropped at Canada’s 40 Mile Flats Café, six hundred miles south of the Alaska border in northwestern British Columbia. The driver left without exiting the vehicle.

Several minutes later, Philip pulled into the cafe’s parking lot as the hitchhiker was eating. The cafe owner, Gaye Frocklage, and her daughter, Tina, recalled Philip did not immediately get out of his car and appeared to be searching for something in his vehicle. After a few minutes, Philip exited his car and exchanged greetings with Tina as she pumped gas for another customer.

Shortly thereafter, the hitchhiker finished eating and paid for his meal in Canadian money. As he left the café, he approached Philip and engaged him in conversation. The hitchhiker likely asked Philip for a ride as Gaye and Tina saw Philip shaking his head no several times.

As the hitchhiker began walking up the road, however, Philip drove his car alongside him and again began talking to him. As he tried to drive away, the hitchhiker flung the passenger door open and continued to talk to him. Philip appeared to relent, as the hitchhiker entered his vehicle.

Both Gaye and Tina had an uneasy feeling about the hitchhiker who ate at their cafe. As Philip’s car disappeared from their view, Tina told her mom he was going to regret picking up the hitchhiker. She had no idea how right she was.

Gaye And Tina Frocklage

The Last People To See Philip Fraser

Eight hours later, and two-hundred miles south of the 40 Mile Flats Café, Eddie and Pauline Olson of Kitwanga, in central British Columbia, pulled over to help a stranded motorist. The man was acting nervously, saying he was having car trouble. The Olsons called a tow-truck to get the car. A mechanic determined the problem was only a broken fan felt.

The Olsons let the man sleep in their basement for the evening. He told them his name was Philip Fraser, he was from Anchorage, Alaska, and his parents were both physicians. He also said he was on his way to Washington to begin his medical studies.

The following morning, the man told Eddie and Pauline that he would give his car to them if they bought him a plane ticket to Seattle. It was a Sunday, and the Olsons told him they would consider buying the vehicle, registered in Alaska, if they went through customs, which could not be done until Monday. Their guest said that would not work as he needed to be in Seattle by Monday.

The man thanked the Olsons for their hospitality. As he left, he gave them $20 in American money. The Olsons noticed he had two wallets with him. The man was then back on the road, heading south.

Eddie Olson

Twelve hours later, the charred ruins of a black 1983 Volkswagen Jetta were found near The Car Pool Car Wash in Prince George, British Columbia, three-hundred miles south of the Olson’s home. Canadian police determined the vehicle had been gutted prior to being set on fire. No items were found in the car.

Eddie Olson called the police after learning the vehicle was registered to one Philip Fraser. He told them he had recently provided shelter to a man identifying himself by that name. The man’s story and car matched Philip’s background, but he in no way resembled the real Philip Fraser.

Philip’s Charred Car

In August, six weeks after the discovery of the burned car, a body was found in a gravel turnaround roughly thirty miles east of Stewart, near the southern tip of the Alaskan panhandle in northwestern British Columbia, seventy miles from the Olson’s home. Dental records confirmed it was Philip Fraser. He had been shot to death with a handgun.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police believe the hitchhiker, after being picked up by Philip at the 40 Mile Flats Cafe, learned everything he could about him. After killing him, the assailant assumed Philip’s identity, took his possessions, and attempted to destroy his car.

Philip Is Found Murdered

The authorities believe Philip Fraser’s killer is familiar with Toronto and Seattle. He is Caucasian, and in 1988 stood approximately five-feet-nine inches tall and weighed roughly two-hundred-twenty-five pounds. He had brown hair and brown eyes. Among his noted physical attributes were his bad teeth and the classic beer belly overhanging his midsection. He had light facial hair, frequently bit his fingernails, spoke in a slow, slurred manner without an accent, and had bad body odor. The man was wearing a blue or white t-shirt, red or burgundy pants, running shoes, and had a packsack on a packboard and a small day pack.

The man was believed to be between twenty to twenty-five years old, which would place him in his mid-to-late fifties or early-sixties today. Several composites were made of the suspect based on the Frocklage’s and Olson’s descriptions.

The person who dropped the hitchhiker at the 40 Mile Flats Cafe where Philip was last seen was driving a dark colored pickup with a light stripe on the side. I could not find anything stating if the driver was ever identified and questioned.

Suspect Composites

Some investigators believe Philip Fraser may be a victim of Canadian serial killer Michael McGray, convicted of killing seven people, some of them hitchhikers, in Canada between 1985-98. McGray claims to have killed eleven more people.

McGray is now fifty-eight-years-old, putting him in the estimated age range of Philip’s suspected killer. Though he does not appear overweight in the photo, he was heavier when he was younger. Nothing, however, conclusively links McGray to Philip’s murder.

McGray is serving multiple life sentences at Quebec’s Ste-Anne-des-Plaines Institution, considered Canada’s highest-security prison.

Michael McGray

None of Philip Fraser’s personal belongings have been found. Among the missing items are his stereo, several tapes, luggage, and camping equipment. Also never located are his essential items, including his birth certificate, visa, passport, and checkbook. Periodic checks have shown that none appear to have ever been used.

If you have any information on the murder of Philip Fraser, please contact the British Columbia Region of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at 1 778-290-3100.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151661139/philip-innes-fraser

 

Both of Philip Fraser’s parents, Robert and Shirley, were doctors. Robert Fraser was recognized as an expert on Tuberculosis and served as Director of Tuberculosis Control for the Alaska Department of Public Health. Shirley was a well renowned neurologist.

Robert Fraser died in 2014 at age eighty-three. Shirley Fraser is still living.

Doctors Robert And Shirley Fraser

Philip’s Parents

SOURCES:

• Anchorage Daily News
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police
• Seattle Times
• Unsolved Mysteries
• Vancouver Sun