This house sat abandoned for nearly 30 years. Here’s the grim reason why. On August 3, 1991, Wanda Watson, a waitress at the Marble Arch Hotel in downtown Vancouver, failed to show up for her shift. Around 10:30 pm that night, neighbours saw her house on fire and called the fire department. Firefighters found Watson lying on the main floor, partly clad. She had been stabbed in the chest multiple times. Police believed that when Watson returned home from work, she walked in on a robbery in progress. The burglars stabbed Watson, and set a fire in the basement before fleeing. Witnesses saw two men running off with the stolen goods. The house was partially destroyed in the fire and sat vacant for decades, becoming a haven for vagrants and prostitutes. In 2021, the home was renovated, and put on the market for $1.4m. It sold for $100,000 over asking. The case of who murdered Wanda Watson remains unsolved.