This month marks 19 years since Lisa Marie Young disappeared and police on Vancouver Island say they are following new leads in the investigation.
Young, an Indigenous woman, disappeared in Nanaimo in the early-morning hours on June 30, 2002, in a case police consider a homicide. Investigators gave an update at a press conference at the RCMP detachment in Nanaimo on Saturday, June 26.
Many investigators have worked on the file over the 19 years and Cpl. Markus Muntener, current co-lead investigator, said new information has come to light. Muntener said there is information he cansa国际传媒檛 share, as it is an active investigation, but police have sa国际传媒渃ompleted numerous searches in the last year.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 based on new information coming in and based on historic information and those searches were extensive and detailed and we have more of those searches planned in the future,sa国际传媒� Muntener said.
Police have employed modern technology to assist with the investigation including the use of a police dog and ground-penetrating radar.
sa国际传媒淲hen yousa国际传媒檙e dealing with potential [search] areas that are large, thatsa国际传媒檚 the kind of technique that you have to use to try and narrow things down just to manage the resources that you have,sa国际传媒� Muntener said.
He and co-lead investigator Const. Hayley Pinfold said investigators have been aided by people coming forward who previously werensa国际传媒檛 comfortable talking to police.
Members of sa国际传媒檚 family at Maffeo Sutton Park in . Young went missing in 2002.
sa国际传媒� Karl Yu (@KarlYuBulletin)
sa国际传媒淚t took great courage for those people to come forward and provide us statements and provide information that is credible and important for the investigation and a lot of those people may not have been comfortable doing that early on in this investigation,sa国际传媒� said Muntener.
There may be other people out there in the same situation and police hope they will come forward as well.
sa国际传媒淚t may just a small part of the puzzle, itsa国际传媒檚 still important information that we need those people to come forward and provide statements to us,sa国际传媒� Muntener said.
Cyndy Hall, organizer of a march that followed the press conference and one of the Lisa Marie Young Facebook page operators, described Young as friendly.
sa国际传媒淪he was just one of those people, that their mood is always the same,sa国际传媒� said Hall. sa国际传媒淚 just remember her always being happy, dressing up, loved music. Just a typical young adult.sa国际传媒�
Youngsa国际传媒檚 family continues to wait to learn of her fate, including Carol Frank, Youngsa国际传媒檚 aunt.
sa国际传媒淲e just ask, as Lisasa国际传媒檚 family, if theresa国际传媒檚 anyone out there that knows something, just to help us bring Lisa home,sa国际传媒� said Frank. sa国际传媒淚f you could, please come forward and bring peace to Lisa and our family.sa国际传媒�
Anyone looking to provide information is asked to call Nanaimo RCMPsa国际传媒檚 non-emergency line at 250-754-2345.
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