Killer out on bail: Gary Losch convicted of manslaughter & indignity to human remains for killing 22-year-old Chelsey Gauthier

Now 70, Losch to be sentenced for killing Gauthier in 2017 while they tended to his marijuana grow in the woods near Mission, burying her in a shallow grave

Gary Donald Losch grew marijuana in the late 2010s in a wooded area on the slopes of Dewdney Peak northeast of Mission.

Losch placed tags on bushes to mark the rugged route to the spot that would be otherwise difficult to find. He would recruit people to help tend to the crop, paying them with bud.

He was living homeless in a tent in and around Abbotsford in the summer of 2017. On one sunny warm day, Losch’s friend Bill Rinz picked up Losch and his occasional grow helper, 22-year-old Chelsea Gauthier, at an Abbotsford McDonald’s and drove them to the grow's access point near Sylvester and Dale roads. 

Gauthier told her friends and family she was going with Losch that day, July 27, 2017, and planned to return that night.

For a reason that was unclear given his own conflicting testimony and reports to police, Rinz did not go pick them up that night, instead coming the next morning. When he did, Losch appeared. Gauthier wasn’t with him. Losch told his friend that the young woman got scared and decided to hitchhike back into town.

After two days of no contact via social media, which was unusual, Gauthier’s cousin contacted the Abbotsford Police Department (APD) and a missing person file was opened. The cousin had been to the grow site at least a dozen times, but panicked when she saw a condom and rope in Losch’s tent such that she got a no-contact order with him a few months prior.

On Aug. 2, the cousin brought three officers to the location of the grow site from the previous year, but there was no grow, but they did find Losch’s tent. 

After gathering more information over the next two weeks, on Aug. 16, a group of APD officers attended the scene again to search for clues as to where Gauthier might be. Gauthier was still treated as a missing person at this point.

One of those officers, Det. Tony Demers focused his attention on what another officer who had previously attended described as the remnants of a campfire. Demers noticed that the vegetation around what was thought to be ashes from a burn site were not singed, which seemed odd. He looked closer and noted that two rocks appeared to be out of place. He moved one of the rocks and saw maggots wriggling around. As Det. Demers bent down, he testified that he smelled “dead flesh,” and saw part of an arm up to the elbow joint.

Gauthier was found. 

What was described as ashes was actually soil darkened by blood.

The missing person’s file was then passed on to the Lower Mainland’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT). The investigation took more than five years but on Sept. 10, 2022, Losch was charged with second-degree murder and indignity to human remains.

Gauthier was Indigenous and a mother of two children.

Losch out on bail, friends demand maximum sentence

Losch pleaded not guilty in what was a purely circumstantial case against him for killing Gauthier and burying her in a shallow grave. His trial ran over more than 140 days in B.C. Supreme Court in Abbotsford from February 24 to June 5, 2025. 

After many witnesses and reams of circumstantial evidence, Justice Dev Dley found that Losch was responsible for Gauthier’s death beyond a reasonable doubt. Crown had offered up detailed evidence and provided case law to prove Losch’s intent, which is required for second-degree murder, but in a decision on July 22, 2025, Justice Dley was unable to draw inferences as to Losch’s state of mind when he killed Gauther. For that reason, he found Losch not guilty of murder but guilty of the lesser included charge of manslaughter as well as guilty of interfering with a dead body.

"This was a tragic crime that has had a profound impact on Chelsey’s family and her community," said IHIT spokesperson Cpl. Sukhi Dhesi in a statement after the July 22 conviction.

A statement from Chelsey’s father Ray Gauthier was also included in that IHIT release.

“My family and I are very grateful to IHIT, the Abbotsford Police Department and the prosecution team for all the hard work they have done over the past eight years,” Gauthier said. “I wear this green ribbon because it was Chelsey’s favourite colour and her necklace that I can’t part with. Chelsey loved her family and friends and she will not be forgotten.”

Following his conviction, and much to the chagrin of some commenters on social media, Losch was released on bail pending his sentencing hearing. There were social media posts in late October stirring up angry responses about unconfirmed reports that Losch was living in Chilliwack. One person said he now has long hair, was living at Ruth & Naomi’s, and was seen shopping at Freshco.

“He is in Chilliwack though for sure, people see him all over,” the person who did not accede to being named told me.

A change.org petition was created asking for the maximum possible sentence for Losch. Kasadee York said she was best friends with Gauthier who is devastated by the loss and feels the manslaughter conviction means justice was not fully served.

“We call upon the judicial system to serve justice without leniency in this case,” according to the petition with 7,450 signatures as of Dec. 2, 2025. “We demand that Gary Donald Losch receives the maximum sentence allowable by law for his horrific actions. It is imperative not only for Chelsey's family but also as a statement that society will not tolerate such acts of violence and disrespect, particularly against Indigenous women.”

Losch's two-day sentencing hearing began Tuesday (Dec. 2, 2025). See here later for updates.

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Paul J. Henderson
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