Kristen French - Aftermath

Aftermath

While French was missing, her fellow students, teachers and friends at Holy Cross Secondary School chose the Green Ribbon of Hope as the symbol for their search. French's school community also gave the name to the Green Ribbon of Hope Campaign, a national campaign continued to this day by Child Find Canada, governments, organizations and individuals to raise funds and awareness for missing children.

The Green Ribbon Trail in St. Catharines was named in her honour. A monument to Kristen's memory stands at the beginning of the trail. The ribbon also gave its name to the Green Ribbon Task Force, the police group tasked with finding French and Mahaffy's killers, though they later found themselves embroiled in controversy over the role of media in police investigations.

Kristen French is remembered for declining cooperation with her abductors in the later period of her abduction: "Some things are worth dying for." She said to Bernardo: "I don't know how your wife can stand to be around you." On one of the memorials dedicated to her is engraved "Her legacy proves an inspiration."

The couple was also convicted of the fatal drug rape of Karla Homolka's sister, Tammy Homolka, which received wide coverage in Canadian newsmedia. Her murder and the subsequent criminal trials remain one of the best-known criminal cases in Canadian history. There was physical evidence of torture and rape, and a videotape which Bernardo made of her captivity and torture later proved to be key evidence in his trial.