36 years after Christine Jessop's murder, her mother speaks about finally getting 'closure'

Thirty-six years after she learned her little girl had been raped and stabbed to death, Janet Jessop says she never once gave up hope that her daughter's killer would be found.

In an interview with CBC News the mother of Christine Jessop, a nine-year-old girl who was abducted north of Toronto in 1984, said the support of friends and community members helped the family get through some of their darkest times.

"You just push on. You just keep going. There was some rough times, some very rough times, but we all just stuck together and lived in hope," Jessoptold CBC News."We couldn't have really done it ourselves without friends and supporters in the neighbourhood."

"Never give up, you just can't give up," she said. "That's not fair to Christine or the child who's been murdered."

WATCH | Christine Jessop's mother speaks after nine-year-old's killer identified 36 years later:

Janet Jessop on finding closure 36 years after her daughter's murder

4 years ago

Duration 0:35

Christine Jessop's mother has been waiting for answers about who raped and killed her daughter for more than three decades. Thirty-six years later, she remarks on finally having closure.

Police said Thursday thatCalvin Hoover, a Toronto man who was 28at the time of Jessop's death, was found to be the girl's killer through a relatively new DNA analysis process called genetic genealogy.

Sources told the CBC'sThe Fifth Estatethat Hoover died by suicide in 2015.

Police say Hoover was acquainted with Jessop's family but was never identified as a suspect.

"I amvery glad that it's over now. The end has come. We have now some closure," said Jessop. "And that was very,very important to get."

WATCH | Janet Jessop on what she would say to her daughter's killer if he were alive:

Christine Jessop's mother on what she would say to her daughter's killer

4 years ago

Duration 0:28

Janet Jessop speaks about the one question she would ask her daughter Christine Jessop's killer.