Man sentenced to 12 years in 2017 killing of Abbotsford, B.C., woman

ABBOTSFORD — A man convicted in the 2017 killing of a 22-year-old woman from Abbotsford, B.C., has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says Gary Losch will serve 10 years in prison for manslaughter and two years for indignity to human remains.

It says the 70-year-old will serve the sentences consecutively.

IHIT says in a news release that Abbotsford police received a report about a missing 22-year-old woman on July 20, 2017, prompting an “extensive search and investigation.”

Police say they found the body of Chelsey Gauthier in Mission, B.C., about a month later, but it wasn’t until September 2022 that Losch was charged with second-degree murder and indignity to human remains.

The release says he was found not guilty of second-degree murder on July 22, but was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter as well as indignity to human remains.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2025.

The Canadian Press