Cathy Lamberton can still remember the day that Verna Susan Bjerky left her home.

B次元官网网址淲e went to a party, came home that night and the next morning she wanted to go back to Kamloops,B次元官网网址� Lamberton said. B次元官网网址淚 couldnB次元官网网址檛 go because I had my baby with me. So, I asked her not to go but she decided to go anyways. She left around one. And right when she was walking out the door, I stopped her and gave her a knife.

B次元官网网址淪he laughed and said she was going to call on Tuesday. She never called back.B次元官网网址�

On May 2, 1981, Bjerky, who was just 10 days shy of her 17th birthday, left LambertonB次元官网网址檚 home to visit her boyfriend in Kamloops. Despite LambertonB次元官网网址檚 pleas to do otherwise, Bjerky planned to hitchhike all the way there and promised Lamberton that she would call her on Tuesday (May 5, 1981).

Instead, on Wednesday (May 6, 1981), Lamberton, who was only 19 years old at the time, said her world was changed forever when BjerkyB次元官网网址檚 mother and two younger sisters knocked on her door asking if Bjerky had contacted her. When she said no, the family reported her missing and began an exhaustive search for her.

According to Lamberton, she first met Bjerky when they were both in school together. The two eventually became best friends and Bjerky ended up living with Lamberton for a year, after she left school to work as a waitress at the Godfather restaurant in Hope. Before becoming a waitress Bjerky was a resident of Yale, living there with her family, and the commute to work would have been difficult.

B次元官网网址淪he was a wild one,B次元官网网址� Lamberton said. B次元官网网址淪he was an artist. And she was so fun. Her and I are a lot alike because we both drew. We were both drawers. We both wrote poems. She just had a lot of life and she loved my little girl. And she worked hard. For a 16-year-old, she was a hard worker.B次元官网网址�

Lamberton, who has stayed in touch with BjerkyB次元官网网址檚 mother and siblings, said that BjerkyB次元官网网址檚 family is B次元官网网址渁bsolutely wonderful.B次元官网网址� In fact, despite policeB次元官网网址檚 belief at the time that she was another teenage runaway, Lamberton said that Bjerky had a good relationship with her mother and siblings: Clara Chrane (mother), Irene Gail Bjerky (older sister), Gladys Chrane (younger sister) and Glynis B次元官网网址淕lennieB次元官网网址� Chrane (younger sister), and Dan Bjerky (brother).

As of 2024, Irene and Glennie have passed away.

Nearly half a year after her disappearance, some of BjerkyB次元官网网址檚 belongings were found near Highway 7, proving that she hadnB次元官网网址檛 run away. This included her purse and a pair of roller skates, which were both found in the river with rocks in them.

Now, 43 years later, Lamberton and BjerkyB次元官网网址檚 family are still searching for Verna and are still seeking answers about what happened. During the past four decades, two big public searches B次元官网网址� involving canine units, dive teams and hundreds of people B次元官网网址� and many personal searches were held to find her body.

The family also held a memorial service for Bjerky in Yale at the Church of St. John the Divine, on May 12, 2011, 30 years after her disappearance.

Lamberton, along with others, believe that Bjerky may have been a victim of Clifford Olson, a serial-killer who terrorized B.C. in the early B次元官网网址�80s before being captured and convicted for the murders of 11 children.

B次元官网网址淥n (April 30, 1981), Verna wanted to go see her boyfriend,B次元官网网址� Lamberton said. B次元官网网址淭he buses were on strike. So we hitchhiked. And Clifford Olson picked us up. We didnB次元官网网址檛 know it was him at the time but he kept trying to make us drink beer and eat peanuts. Now I know they were probably laced with chlorohydrate.B次元官网网址�

Lamberton, who sat in the backseat with a knife open the whole trip, said something felt very off about Olson. She refused to eat or drink anything he offered. And she stopped Bjerky from consuming anything either.

B次元官网网址淗e was weird. Very weird,B次元官网网址� Lamberton said. B次元官网网址淗e was talking about how his wife wouldnB次元官网网址檛 give him sex because of the baby. Just weird things. Strange things. Anyways, he did drop us off in Kamloops.B次元官网网址�

Lamberton said, after spending time in Kamloops, she and Verna managed to hitchhike back to Hope by May 1, 1981. She believes Olson may have followed them back as, according to her, he signed into the Coquihalla Campground late at night on May 1, 1981.

Lamberton said, out of desperation for answers, she wrote to Olson while he was in jail and received two letters from him. Irene, when she was alive, also told the Hope Standard in 2011 that she wrote to Olson trying to seek answers.

In OlsonB次元官网网址檚 letters to Lamberton, he allegedly confirmed LambertonB次元官网网址檚 suspicions that he was responsible for VernaB次元官网网址檚 disappearance.

It was in one of these letters that he, allegedly, informed Lamberton that the only reason she and Bjerky left his car safely on April 30 was because, up until that point, he hadnB次元官网网址檛 killed two people at the same time.

B次元官网网址淲hen I read that I started bawling,B次元官网网址� Lamberton said. B次元官网网址淲e could have been dead that day. And the thing that saved us, I refused to drink the beer and I refused to let Verna drink the beer.B次元官网网址�

Police took Olson, after he was imprisoned, back to B.C. on a four-day hunt after he claimed that he killed more children.

Despite this, Olson was never conclusively linked to her disappearance. He died on September 30, 2011 and went to his grave without confirming if he murdered her.

VernaB次元官网网址檚 body remains missing to this day.

As such, Lamberton said that any new information about Bjerky is welcome.

B次元官网网址淪he was wonderful,B次元官网网址� Lamberton said. B次元官网网址淪he was great. And sheB次元官网网址檚 missed (very much) by a lot of people. But the thing is nobodyB次元官网网址檚 mentioned her since then (30th memorial). And thereB次元官网网址檚 a lot of new people who donB次元官网网址檛 know anything about her.

B次元官网网址淎nd the search hasnB次元官网网址檛 died down. ItB次元官网网址檚 not ended. IB次元官网网址檓 still looking.B次元官网网址�

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