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PHOTOS: Searchers go into Spuzzum backcountry to look for April Parisian

Family of the missing 45-year-old say they won’t stop searching until they find their loved one

Guided by a vision she had shortly before April Parisian was reported missing, her aunt Carmel Crowchild led a group of searchers experienced in the Fraser Canyon backcountry Sunday.

The vision Crowchild saw began with her blue healer, trained to be her search dog, alerting her to a spiritual presence in her home. “The hair on my body stood up, because I felt like there was something in my house,” she said.

She saw a bear - her Anishinaabe family’s clan is the bear clan - and standing beside him was April’s great grandmother Dorothy Macquabeak Francis. Carmel then saw where to look for her loved one, a vision involving the backcountry switchback roads and a creek that empties out into the Fraser.

After Sunday’s search, the family said they will continue to search for their loved one. Money is running low, they say, and are appealing for donations via searchforapril@gmail.com. “We’re out here until we find her,” Crowchild said.

“The RCMP have been very helpful to my family,” she added. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen an RCMP presence at any Indigenous search.”

After Sunday’s search, April’s cousin Tammy Francis said the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) will now be called up to the area where searching was done. IHIT are leading of the investigation into Parisian’s disappearance.



emelie.peacock@hopestandard.com

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