Two years after her death, Jessica PatrickB次元官网网址檚 family is still looking for answers.
Patrick was last seen leaving Mountain View Motel in Smithers in the early morning hours of Aug. 31 2018.
Her body was not found until Sept. 15 2018 off Hudson Bay Mountain Road. To this day, the case remains unsolved, but RCMP say the investigation is active and ongoing.
However, PatrickB次元官网网址檚 cousin Jacquie Bowes doesnB次元官网网址檛 feel like police are doing enough.
B次元官网网址淚t feels like they are giving us the runaround,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淭he major crime unit would check in with us every six months, or three to four months, very sporadic. They basically just say they havenB次元官网网址檛 forgotten about you, Jessica is still first on our list, we want to make sure this case doesnB次元官网网址檛 become cold. Basically everything we want to hear. We are tired of hearing the runaround. They say Jessica is a priority but they feel overwhelmed with other cases.B次元官网网址�
She added she told the major crimes unit in the very beginning that she refuses to let her case go cold and that they are setting a precedent allowing murderers to get away with it.
PatrickB次元官网网址檚 sister Kirsten echoed those concerns.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been trying to call them, IB次元官网网址檝e been asking the cops and no one is saying anything to me. I am getting very frustrated. IB次元官网网址檓 working on finding out who did it and why. I heard that she owed money, but that is about it.B次元官网网址�
Kirsten said she misses her sisterB次元官网网址檚 laugh and amazing humour, but also simply just misses loving her.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 pretty heartbroken,B次元官网网址� she added. B次元官网网址淚 raised her.B次元官网网址�
KirstenB次元官网网址檚 husband Floyd Hyzins is also concerned the case will be closed before finding out what happened to his sister-in-law.
B次元官网网址淲hy arenB次元官网网址檛 they doing anything anymore? It is hard for all of us knowing if we will get justice or not,B次元官网网址� he said.
Bowes said the local detachment didnB次元官网网址檛 take the case seriously enough when Patrick was first reported missing.
According to Corporal Madonna Saunderson, Patrick was reported missing by her mother and sister on September 3, 2018 at 5:20 p.m. to Smithers detachment who initiated a missing persons investigation. On Sept. 6 the first media release was issued.
B次元官网网址淎s Jessica was not reported to the RCMP as missing until Sept. 3, there was no search or investigation conducted by the RCMP into her disappearance prior to the report date,B次元官网网址� she said.
On Sept. 15, 2018, her body was located by a family member near Hudson Bay Mountain Lookout.
B次元官网网址淒uring the period of Sept. 3 to 15, the RCMP conducted multiple searches some of which were done pursuant to warrants in an effort to not only locate Jessica, but identify anyone who may have been involved in her disappearance,B次元官网网址� Saunderson added.
Bowes said a family member should not have been the one who found her body and that she felt her family did more of the investigating than police did.
She is also frustrated that the federal government has spent a lot of time and money on the National Inquiry for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, but isnB次元官网网址檛 putting much into action.
B次元官网网址淭hey need to create a trained team, so as soon as someone goes missing someone is assigned to be an investigator,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚t was quite traumatic what we went through in order to find Jessica. It was bad enough that we were worried, we didnB次元官网网址檛 know what weB次元官网网址檇 come across when we were searching. We didnB次元官网网址檛 know if we would find her alive or deceased. A family shouldnB次元官网网址檛 have to go through that.B次元官网网址�
Bowes is an aboriginal community legal worker and is advocating for better resources for Indigenous children.
B次元官网网址淚 work with children that are in children protection care. With Jessica, it became a passion of mine, especially knowing that Jessica was in care. She was only 18, she was still in MCFDC [The Ministry of Children and Family Development] care when she was deceased.B次元官网网址�
Bowes also said she will miss PatrickB次元官网网址檚 smile the most.
B次元官网网址淓ven though she was going through so much and just basically trying to survive and she hid [her struggles] all so well. She wanted to give her daughter everything she didnB次元官网网址檛 have.B次元官网网址�
While there may not have been much action on PatrickB次元官网网址檚 case, there is work being done in the community to help families of missing and murdered indigenous women heal. The Dze L KB次元官网网址檃nt Friendship Centre Society applied for a grant from the federal governmentB次元官网网址檚 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Commemoration Fund for a mural to be painted on the outside of their building on Main Street in Smithers.
READ MORE:
Further down the Highway of Tears, a name given to a stretch of Highway 16 where many Indigenous women have gone missing or been murdered, a totem pole honouring CanadaB次元官网网址檚 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls was raised earlier this month.
READ MORE:
