What happened to Reena Virk? Inside the gruesome “Under the Bridge” murder

It has been 28 years since 14-year-old Reena Virk was killed.

In April 2024, her case received new attention when Oscar nominees Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough participated in Under the bridgea miniseries based on Reena’s life and murder. The true story behind the drama sent shockwaves across Canada and inspired a 2005 book by Rebecca Godfrey, which in turn inspired the series.

In November 1997, a group of her peers, nicknamed the “Shoreline Six”, invited Reena to a party under a bridge in Saanich, a suburb of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. During the gathering, the group beat her badly and after she tried to escape, two of them followed and killed her. Over the next week, details of that Friday night began to emerge, and the information baffled authorities as they tried to understand what had happened.

“Every time new information came out, it opened your eyes a little wider and it was shocking,” retired Victoria Police Sgt. Rob Dibden narrated Vancouver Sun. “Even as police officers, I think most of us were surprised by the savagery of it and the absolute senselessness of it.”

Here’s everything to know about the true story behind it Under the bridgeincluding what happened to Reena Virk – and her killer – in real life.

Who was Reena Virk?

Reena was 14 years old when she disappeared from Saanich on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

She had a problem with her parents and was living in a foster home at the time, according to True crime. Reena’s father, Manjit Virk, emigrated to Canada from India. The family were Jehovah’s Witnesses, as Reena’s mother, Suman, grew up, making them a minority in their neighborhood, which consisted mostly of Sikh Canadians.

In an article written for Vice In 2017, Godfrey recounts that Reena, a fan of East Coast hip-hop and blue nail polish, often rebelled against her parents. She had run away from home more than once and reportedly falsely accused Manjit of sexual assault so she could live in a group home, per CBC News. Reena later retracted the statement and the teenager kept in touch with them.

Why was Reena Virk bullied?

Scott Green, a constable with the Saanich police, said further True crime that Reena tried hard to fit in and was sometimes accused of lying about her parents and her life to her peers.

According to the Associated Press (via New York Times), at least one person accused Reena of spreading rumors about one of the girls who bullied her.

These rumors were detailed further on Under the bridgewho alleged that Reena stole a phone book from Nicole Cook and called her friends and told them that Cook had fake breasts, wore colored contact lenses and had AIDS. In the MSNBC News special, Blood lust under the bridgeCook said she thought Reena was jealous of her.

The Globe and Mail reported that Reena was also rumored to be involved with one of the girls’ boyfriends. IN Under the bridgeReena was described as being in a relationship with the boy in question and wearing her black and white Adidas jacket.

What happened to Reena Virk?

On November 14, 1997, Reena was invited to a party under the Gorge Waterway Bridge, according to the Associated Press. Cook and a group of six other teenagers – since nicknamed the “Shoreline Six” – were also at the event. One of them was Missy Pleich, who Reena and Cook met while in foster care, according to Blood lust under the bridge.

Once there, Cook confronted Reena and asked why she was spreading rumors about her. Cook claimed Blood lust under the bridge that Reena called her “a bitch”, prompting Cook to put out a cigarette on Reena’s forehead. Cook and Pleich said Cook’s best friend, Kelly Ellard, and Pleich both began punching and kicking Reena, and then the rest of the group, including Warren Glowatski, joined in.

Ellard, then 15, and Glowatski, then 16, followed Reena as she staggered away from the group and continued to attack her. The Globe and Mail reported that Glowatski testified that Ellard held Reena underwater until Reena drowned. A medical examiner’s report obtained by Vice indicated that Reena suffered multiple blows throughout her body and suffered from a “convulsive injury often seen in car accident victims.”

The investigators further said True crime that because of Reena’s history of running away from home, it was not necessarily unusual for her to not return to her foster home in time for her Friday night curfew. But on Monday, rumors began to circulate at her school and the police began to investigate the case more seriously.

Police found Reena’s body on November 22, 1997, eight days after she was killed. Cook initially refused to answer police questions about Ellard’s involvement in the murder, while Ellard claimed Cook was the likely culprit and said she was being used as a scapegoat.

According to Godfrey’s paragraph for Vicepolice found Reena’s jacket in Ellard’s closet with salt water stains on it consistent with water from the ravine where Reena’s body was found, but Ellard claimed it was her own.

Several other teenagers told police that Ellard and Glowatski were the ones who ultimately killed Reena, and Glowatski eventually confessed to the murder.

What happened to Reena Virk’s killer?

Glowatski was convicted of second-degree murder in 1999 and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving seven years, It was reported by CBC News.

He openly expressed remorse and participated in restorative justice programs, including one in which he personally apologized to Reena’s parents. Suman told reporters at the time, “We would have hoped that someone would have learned something from this, and so far it looks like Warren has. Of all the defendants in this whole process, he’s the only one who has.”

Glowatski was granted day parole in 2007 and full parole in 2010, The Globe and Mail reports.

Ellard, like Glowatski, was charged with second-degree murder. In 2000, she was sentenced in an adult court, It was reported by CBC Newsbut the sentence was overturned on appeal. A second trial ended in a mistrial, followed by a third trial in which Ellard was convicted again. Her subsequent appeal attempts were overturned and she began serving her prison sentence in 2005.

Fast forward, Ellard Day was denied parole at a hearing in May 2016. During the hearing, The Globe and Mail reported that it was the first time she admitted responsibility for Reena’s death. In October 2016 Vancouver Sun reported that Ellard fathered a child with another convicted felon while she was in prison.

In November 2017, Elard was granted day paroleand in the years after, she reportedly changed her name to Kerry Sim. She turned down a chance for full parole in May 2022, telling Parole Canada she was “situationally … not ready” for freedom, according to Victoria News.

However, Ellard’s parole was revoked in June 2025, following a string of positive drug tests and behavior the board said posed “an undue risk to the community,” according to CBC.

The remaining members of the “Shoreline Six” – Cook, Pleisch, Gail Ooms, Courtney Keith and Nicole Patterson – all pleaded guilty to assault but denied involvement in or responsibility for her killing. They reportedly left the bridge after the first attack.

What happened to Reena Virk’s parents?

After Reena’s murder, her parents worked with anti-bullying initiatives throughout Canada.

In 2008, Manjit wrote a book about his experience titled Reena: A Father’s Storyin which he criticized the legal system for removing Reena from the family home amid her false allegations of sexual abuse, as well as the trials following her death.

“I think people also need to see that any normal family, no matter how hard they try to keep their family intact, they can be derailed by this system,” he told CBC News. “I think that’s what’s happened here and I hope that others can find something about the book that they can use in their lives.”

In June 2018, Suman died at the age of 58 after suffocating while eating at a cafe, according to Vancouver Sun. Before her death she told Victoria Times columnist in 2009 that she had processed Reena’s murder by hooking up with Glowatski.

“You don’t really want to sit down and talk to the person who has taken your child’s life,” she said. “Seeing what he had to say for himself, it doesn’t make things right or take away the pain, but you can let go of the questions you have and put it behind you. It gave us a voice to say what we needed.”