The true story behind Hulu’s 2024 miniseries Riley Keough in the show), Under the Bridge focuses on the murder of Reena Virk (Vritka Gupta), an Indian-Canadian teen brutally murdered by her peers. The crime rattled both the British Columbian town of Saanich and Canada as a whole, gaining international attention due both to the brutality and the fact the perpetrators were all minors.

Under the Bridge was received well by critics and viewers and considered a hit for Hulu. What’s more, the way the miniseries portrayed the true story was also remarked on as a strength. However, there were several key details changed or omitted from Under the Bridge, and the true story of what happened to Reena Virk, and those who murdered her, is incredibly complex.

Who Was Reena Virk?

The Real Victim Played By Vritka Gupta Explained

Under The Bridge adapts the true story of the murder of 14-year-old Reena Virk in 1997. The crime shocked not only the community of Saanich in British Columbia, but also Canada as a whole and the wider international community. Her death created many conversations in Canada about how bullying in schools was handled, as well as perceptions of violence both towards and by young girls.

Reena Virk was born in 1983 to Manjit Virk, an immigrant from India, and Indian-Canadian mother Suman Virk. Reena was tragically the victim of bullying throughout most of her life, up to and including her murder. Due to her struggles being accepted by her peers and her conflicting desires to fit in with those her age and her parent’s strict religious views as Jehovah’s Witnesses, she fell into rebellious behaviors such as smoking and marijuana use at a young age.

Virk was, reportedly, troubled throughout her youth. She falsely accused her father of sexual assault in 1996 in an attempt to be moved into the foster care system. However, after several months as a ward of the state, she revealed the accusations were false and went back to live with her parents.

As Under The Bridge showed, Reena Virk’s life was cut tragically short in November, 1997, when she was aged only 14.

She was due to attend a party at a friend's house, as far as her parents knew, but she never came home. She was instead accosted by a group of teenagers - peers who she’d tragically tried to befriend - and murdered. She was violently beaten before being drowned. The case, both because of the violent nature of her murder, her age, and how bullying factored into the motive, attracted international attention, and in Canada became considered a national tragedy.

Who Was Responsible For Reena Virk’s Murder?

Reena Virk Was Attacked By A Group Of Her Peers

Reena Virk was killed by a group of teens from the Saanich community who became referred to in the media as the “Shoreline Six”, though it soon emerged that a group of eight were responsible (though only two were convicted for her murder, with the rest being found guilty only for assault). Among the group were seven female teens and one male.

The young male was Warren Paul Glowatski, while the teenage girls who took part in Reena Virk’s murder were Nicole Cook, Nicole Patterson, Missy Grace Pleich, Courtney Keith, Gale Ooms, and Kelly Marie Ellard. All pled guilty and itted taking part in Virk’s murder. The age of those involved was truly shocking, which is in part why the crime attracted so much attention from the media. What’s more, since those were involved were all white, many theorized that their was a racial aspect to the crimes too.

What Happened To Warren Paul Glowatski, Kelly Marie Ellard, And The Shoreline Six?

Only Two Were Convicted For Her Murder

A total of 8 Saanich teens were convicted for their part in the death of Reena Virk, but only two were directly charged with her murder. Under the Bridge primarily focused on Warren Paul Glowatski (Javon “Wanna” Walton). The other teens predominantly focused on in Under the Bridge was Josephine Bell (Chloe Guidry) and Kelly Ellard (Izzy G). Unlike Glowatski and Ellard, however, Bell isn’t a real person, but appears to be an amalgamation of several of those involved in Reena Virk’s murder.

For example, Jo in Under the Bridge its to stubbing out a cigarette on Virk’s face - though in real life, this was attributed to Nicole Cook. However, Jo takes responsibility for Virk’s murder in Under the Bridge, which Nicole Cook never did. Instead, it was Kelly Marie Ellard who was convicted of the actual homicide alongside Warren Paul Glowatski, with the rest of those involved in the incident simply being found guilty of assault.

Warren Paul Glowatski was 16 when he took part in the murder of Reena Virk and was sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder in 1999. However, he was released in 2010 on parole, with his current whereabouts being unknown. Kelly Marie Ellard, who was 15 at the time of the murder, was initially convicted for second-degree murder in 2000. Despite multiple retrials, this sentence still stood. As of 2022, Ellard remains behind bars. This is partially due to her deciding she is still unfit to return to life outside of prison, but also due to the parole board deciding she was still unsafe.

As for the rest of those involved in Reena Virk’s murder, Nicole Cook, Nicole Patterson, Missy Grace Pleich, Courtney Keith, and Gale Ooms were convicted of assault. The lengths and nature of their sentences varied, with some spending as little as 60 days in prison, with others serving up to a year.

What Did Under The Bridge Change About The True Story?

Several Details Were Altered Or Added

While Under the Bridge was relatively faithful to the true story, it did make several changes to what actually happened to Reena Virk and who was responsible. The greatest of these was, as mentioned, the creation of characters like Josephine Bell. Bell wasn’t a real person, but she served as an important narrative device to incorporate some of the more shocking aspects of the case.

Several other characters were fictional too. For example, Lily Gladstone’s Cam Bentland, a police officer investigating the assault and murder, isn’t based on any specific individual and doesn’t exist in real life. Aiyana Goodfellow’s Dusty Pace was also fictional, but is believed to mostly be based on Missy Grace Pleich.

There were also several specific elements of the group's behavior following the murder in Under the Bridge that don’t quite correlate with the true story. For example, in the miniseries, Kelly Ellard kept a pair of Reena’s shoes. This didn’t happen in real life, and was added for dramatic effect. While Ellard and several others returned to the crime scene and gathered some of Reena Virk's belongings, this wasn’t to collect keepsakes. Instead, anything they found they disposed of to ensure there was no evidence.

The other big change to the true story of Reena Virk’s murder in Under the Bridge was the arrest of Warren Glowatski. In the show, Glowatski is dramatically arrested at a school dance in episode 6. In reality, Glowatski was brought into custody after going to a gathering to see his girlfriend, Syreeta Hartley (who was renamed Samara Bailey in the show, and was played by Isabella Leon).

What’s more, Syreeta Hartley made several attempts to remain in with Glowatski following his arrest, while the fictional character Samara Bailey wanted nothing to do with him. However, outside of these and a few other tweaks to specific events, Under the Bridge captures most of the key elements of Reena Virk’s death accurately.