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Mellissa Ivy Chaboyer
Thompson, MB / Nov. 26, 2005
Mellissa Ivy Chaboyer, 35,the mother of a 17-year-old son, drove for North Star Taxi in Thompson. She had worked part-time as a cab driver for about 20 years and worked full time with developmentally challenged adults.
Shortly before 1 a.m. on Saturday, November 26, another taxi driver found Chaboyer's body beside her cab in the City Centre Mall parking lot. An autopsy revealed that she had been stabbed to death.
Hundreds of Thompson residents attended a memorial ceremony in the in the parking lot that afternoon and a vigil was held in the evening.
Thompson's three taxi companies (North Star, Driftwood Nickel and Cliff's) shut down from 3 p.m. until 7 the next morning as drivers attended the vigil. Cabs were parked bumper to bumper around the lot so that attendees could warm up after standing in subzero temperatures. Several restaurants donated coffee.
"She was one of the gentlest drivers in the whole industry," said Jas Gills, manager of North Star Taxi. "If someone didn't have the money, she'd smile and say, 'pay later.' She never would have gotten into a dispute with someone."
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