It has been seven years since Kristina Ward’s family last saw her.
“We don’t have any answers, any closure, or any answers to bring her home,” LeeAnne Ward, Kristina’s mother, said Friday morning during a gathering at the location where her daughter was last seen.
The Langley woman was reported missing in late September 2017 and has not been seen or heard from since.
RCMP released a video at the time that showed her walking with a man with a bike. In the video, Kristina can be seen crossing the street at 104 Avenue and 142 Street in Surrey between 7:50 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. on Sept. 27.
Every year, members of her family gather at the site.
“Unfortunately, when kids go missing, the awareness stops and people forget about that person,” Art Ward, Kristina’s father, said. “We don’t want that to happen to our daughter, anybody’s daughter.”
The Wards said they hope to stir the memory of someone who might have been in the area and seen Kristina but has not come forward.
Kristina, who would now be 27 years old, is described as Indigenous, five feet five inches, 130 pounds, and with curly brown hair and brown eyes.
LeeAnne said her daughter’s name is now in the database of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. She said her daughter was fun and loving and wanted to make friends with others her age.
Art said Kristina always wanted to be with her family but they don’t know how or why she left the house the day she went missing.
LeeAnne also read a prepared statement at the gathering on Friday morning.
“The pain of not knowing where your child is is indescribable,” she said.
“Our determination to bring Kristina home is through awareness and hope. Kristina was a young 20-year-old girl, shy, vulnerable and just wanted to make friends. We have not given up searching as we remain hopeful that someone, somewhere knows something to bring Kristina back home to us.”
Katie Pearson, Coast Salish from the Sechelt First Nation, told Global News that September is always difficult for First Nations people.
“In light of the fact that Monday is National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, it’s a stark reminder that every child matters,” she said.
“Kristina matters. Our persistence and coming out every year in the hopes that we can stir some memories for people, people that know some information about her whereabouts, what happened, and give this family some of the closure that they deserve.”
Cpl. Craig van Herk of Langley RCMP said police have received numerous reports, sightings and tips relating to Kristina’s disappearance and police have followed up on all of them.
“We know she was last seen with the man on the bike,” he said. “We’ve got kind of grainy pictures of that, that man. We know it’s a man. We know it’s a bike. We have some ideas who it may be, but we don’t have confirmation yet.”
Van Herk said police need as much information at they can get, however small, to break open the case.
“This is one of those frustrating investigations because we’re at that point where we need more,” he said.
“We’ve chased leads, we’ve followed up on evidence, we followed up with interviews and so on. We know without a doubt that there is someone out there that has that key to this one, that has that piece of the puzzle that’s going to open it up and start to make that picture clear. That’s what frustrates us.”