Families and community members gathered for an event which included a walk to honour Saskatchewan’s long-term missing persons on the 10-year anniversary for Missing Persons Week.
Melanie Alix attended the event held at Regina’s Wascana Park to remember her missing son, Dylan Koshman who was last seen in October 2008 in south Edmonton.
“The pain never lessens, it’s always there,” she said. “No matter how much time is gone by, that loved one is still very much alive in our lives.”
Alix said attending events like the Missing Persons Week gives her the opportunity to bond with the other families who can relate to the pain she endures.
“It’s a never-ending tragedy for us not having any closure,” she said. “Without closure, the waves of grief flow constantly. We don’t have any answers … having (events) like this really speaks volumes to say that they are not forgotten.”
The Saskatchewan government proclaimed the first week of May as Missing Persons Week to raise awareness about missing persons and to highlight the prevention and support services.
At the event, special guest speakers addressed the attendees which followed with a Walk to Honour the Missing and a bench dedication ceremony at the Missing Persons Tree and Bench in Wascana Park. Families placed flowers and messaged at the Missing Persons Tree to represent the province’s long-term missing persons.
Saskatchewan Minister of Justice Bronwyn Eyre said there are currently 137 who’ve been missing for more than six months at 96 men and boys and 39 women and girls. She said that roughly half of each of those are Indigenous.
“I think there’s been more development over the last ten years around … what that really means … to get the word out,” said Minister Eyre.
“Most cases are resolved within 48 hours, luckily. But of course, in 137 cases currently in Saskatchewan, there are a lot of unanswered questions for families and for all of us.”
Missing Persons Week is organized by the Saskatchewan Missing Persons Partnership (SMPP) where government, police agencies, Indigenous and community-based organizations collaborate to help raise awareness about missing persons issues, work to coordinate policies and legislation, share prevention and safety tools, and support agencies that provide services to families when people do go missing.