Between 1949 and Feb. 21, 2016, the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains (NCMPUR) says there have been 258 children, under the age of 17, who are still listed as missing in B.C.. Nine of those have been abducted by a stranger.
In 2015, BC RCMP received approximately 7,420 missing children complaints and of these, only 21 remain open to date.
These cases include all categories of missing, including those where the child was knowingly abducted by a parent, but have not yet been located, or they died accidentally but their body has not yet been found.
On the 25th anniversary of Michael Dunahee’s disappearance we wanted to highlight some of the other missing children in B.C.
Joanne Pedersen
Joanne has been missing since Feb. 19, 1983. She was 10 when she went missing near her home at Vedder Crossing in Chilliwack. Police say she was last seen with an adult man at a telephone booth outside the Penny Pincher store, on the south east corner of the building, facing Vedder Road.
The man with her was described as Caucasian, approximately 20 to 30 years old, 5’6″ to 5’7″ in height, slim to medium build, with light to dark hair that was below the ears. He was clean shaven and wearing a dark jacket.
In 2011, an anonymous letter was sent to the Chilliwack RCMP about Joanne’s disappearance, but while it generated lots of tips, her case remains a mystery.
Joanne:
- Missing since – Feb. 19, 1983
- Year of birth – 1972
- Age at disappearance – 10
- Gender – female
- Eye colour – brown
- Hair – brown, long
- Height – 137cm / 4 ft 6 in
- Weight – 38kg / 84lb
- Build – slender/thin
- Complexion – light/fair
WATCH: Original air dates – Feb. 21 and 22, 1983
Casey Rose Bohun
Casey was only three when she disappeared from her bedroom in North Delta. She was last seen by her mother at bedtime in the evening of Aug. 5, 1989. She was living with her mother, her one-year-old sister and her mother’s boyfriend.
Casey didn’t know the neighbourhood very well because the family had only moved to the area a month before.
Police say it is possible Casey was abducted and is living somewhere else in Canada or the United States. She would now be 29 years old.
Dozens of volunteers joined the search for Casey, but no trace of her has been found.
Officers say the girl’s disappearance had a devastating effect on her family and her mother committed suicide in 2001.
Casey:
- Missing since – Aug. 5, 1989
- Year of birth – 1986
- Age at disappearance – 3
- Gender – female
- Eye colour – brown
- Hair – red, short
- Teeth – Other, chipped left top tooth
- Height – 91cm / 3 ft 0 in
- Weight – 13kg / 29lb
- Build – slender/thin
- Complexion – light/fair
WATCH: Original air dates – Aug. 7 and 8, 1989
Jesokah Adkens
Jesokah was 17 when she went missing on Sept. 26, 2001. She was last seen at about 9:30 p.m. when she was waiting for a bus at the corner of Sooke Road and Idlemore Road in Sooke. She never boarded a bus and has not been seen since.
Police conducted searches under the Sooke River Bridge but they found nothing.
Her father said his daughter was well known and well liked and he couldn’t imagine her taking off without telling anyone.
“She has a little puppy,” said her father Clayten at the time. “If she was going to go off some place, she would bring the puppy here for us to look after. She didn’t do that.”
Jesokah was living with a friend at the time in downtown Sooke and was attending Edward Milne Community School.
Jesokah:
- Missing since – Sept. 26, 2001
- Year of birth – 1984
- Age at disappearance – 17
- Gender – female
- Eye colour – blue
- Hair – blonde, long, straight
- Height – 165cm / 5 ft 5 in
- Weight – 40kg / 88lb
- Build – slender/thin
- Complexion – light/fair
WATCH: Original air date – Oct. 2, 2001
Lucas James Degerness
Lucas was last seen on June 7, 2007 in Prince George. He was only 14 when he went missing.
That morning, he and his mother met with his vice-principal and after that meeting Lucas was asked to return to class, but he never did.
His mother has not seen him since.
Lucas spent the night of June 7 with a friend and that was the last time anyone saw him.
RCMP launched an extensive search in Prince George and the Hudson Bay Slough after they received a tip. Hope was renewed that Lucas was alive and safe in 2014, when Missingkids.ca received a call from a man saying he was Lucas. However, there was no further information provided and he could not be found.
“Although you’re a young man now, I still wonder if you’re safe or if you need help, if maybe you need your mom,” his mother Gina told the RCMP in 2015. “I don’t want to have to ask myself these questions every day for the rest of my life….
“It doesn’t matter what’s happened in the past so please call me, or someone who can share the message with me that you’re safe. If anyone sees this and has even the smallest piece of information as to where my son might be or what may have happened to him, please do the right thing.”
Lucas:
- Aliases – Luke
- Missing since – June 7, 2007
- Year of birth – 1993
- Age at disappearance – 14
- Gender – male
- Bio group – aboriginal
- Eye colour – brown
- Hair – brown, short
- Height – 171cm / 5 ft 7 in
- Weight – 66kg / 146lb
- Build – medium
WATCH: Original air date – June 8, 2012
Search the NCMPUR’s Missing database.
The RCMP, which run the NCMPUR, say all missing persons investigations remain open until the person is located and a person is still considered missing, even if police believe they may be dead.
It launched the database in May 2014, and all cases of missing children, missing adults and unidentified remains that have been entered into the Canadian Police Information Centre are in the database.
This is the first national database for missing persons and unidentified remains, providing police, medical examiners and chief coroners with more comprehensive information and an enhanced ability to link these investigations across jurisdictions. The BC Police Missing Persons Centre was established as one of the first CMPURs in November 2015.
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