The mother of Desmond Peter, one of three missing First Nations men, wants answers to his disappearance 10 years ago.
Speaking at a meeting on Nov. 21 hosted by Cowichan Tribes to update the community on the ongoing efforts to find the men, Liz Louie tearfully said Desmond was just 14 years old when he disappeared and would be 24 now.
She said she has continued to search for him since he disappeared.
sa国际传媒淭he community needs to know these men are still missing, and more needs to be done to find them,sa国际传媒� she said.
sa国际传媒淚t takes a community to raise a child, and it will take a community to help find these missing people as well.sa国际传媒�
Desmond Peter was reported missing on March 12, 2007, from Duncan.
Two other First Nations men from the area went missing more recently.
Everett Jones, 47, was last seen leaving his home in the Club Road area in Duncan on the morning of Feb. 10, 2016, and Ian Henry, 26, has been missing since August, 2015, when he left his Tzouhalem Road-area home.
FOR RELATED STORY,
Family and community members, as well as the RCMP, have been actively searching for the men since each of them disappeared.
RCMP Corp. Kerry Howse, head of First Nations policing for the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment, provided updates on each police file on the men at Tuesdaysa国际传媒檚 community meeting.
He said Desmond Petersa国际传媒檚 file has been sent to the B.C. Missing Persons Centre in Vancouver for a complete review to determine if local investigators might have overlooked something that could help break the case.
Howse said police have recently received some leads in Everett Jonessa国际传媒檚 disappearance that are being investigated, but provided no information as to what the tips are.
As for Ian Henry, Howse said the file has been sent to the RCMPsa国际传媒檚 Major Crime Unit in Victoria for review.
But he said thatsa国际传媒檚 not because the RCMP have any indication that a major crime has taken place.
sa国际传媒淓very missing person file has to be constantly reviewed, and this is just an opportunity for a fresh set of eyes to take a look at it, so the Major Crime Unit will review it and get back to us as to what, if anything, we can do further,sa国际传媒� Howse said.
sa国际传媒淲e want the community to know that none of these three files are closed and are all being actively investigated.sa国际传媒�
Patsy Jones, a member of Cowichan Tribes, is related to all three missing men and has been leading a small group of searchers in trying to locate them.
She said the group has searched through great swaths of the Cowichan Valley, including along all the local rivers, local logging roads, and around Mount Tzouhalem and the valley below it in efforts to locate any sign of the men.
Jones said requests have been made to take apart some of the log jams in the Cowichan and Somenos rivers in their hunt to find some clues to the mensa国际传媒檚 disappearances, but they may have to step back for awhile from the search as the weather worsens.
sa国际传媒淭wo years missing is too long for Ian and Everett, and 10 years missing is way too long for Desmond,sa国际传媒� Jones said.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒榬e beginning to feel at a loss and itsa国际传媒檚 hard to do more. Our family needs help with this.sa国际传媒�
William Seymour, chief of Cowichan Tribes, said he hopes the meeting will spur a new push to finally end the mystery of the disappearance of the three men.
sa国际传媒淭hese men have been missing for quite awhile, and every day it increases the heaviness on their families because they just donsa国际传媒檛 have any answers,sa国际传媒� he said.
Anyone with information about any of the missing men should call the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP at 250-748-5522.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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