With her mother now out of touch for almost a week, Shoni-qua Fred is appealing to the public for help.
Lizann Hirsche, 52, was reported missing to Abbotsford police on July 30. Her vehicle was found July 31 in the lot of the Othello Tunnels, a hiking spot with railway tunnels in the Coquihalla Canyon Park.
“I’m trying to be as positive as I can. You know, everyday it feels a little worse that she’s not found yet. But we’re keeping up high hopes to find her,” Fred told Global News on Friday.
“She grew up in the Yukon, so she’s got some survival skills, and also she’s a naturopath doctor so any herbs or any plants she knows of, she knows that can help her in the wild.”
According to Fred, she, her sister and Hirsche had visited the Othello Tunnels when they were children. The family originally hails from Vancouver.
Hirsche has struggled with her mental health for the past eight months, Fred told Global News, but she took her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel — Remington or Remi — with her to the tunnels, so Fred doesn’t believe she intends to harm herself.
“She did not say anything to anybody. She just took off and left pretty much, which is out of character for her,” Fred said.
“She might be making her way up to her friend’s cabin in Shuswap or she’s just walking about in the forest area.”
Hirsche’s keys, phone and wallet were all found in her unlocked car at the Othello Tunnels parking lot. The tunnels have been closed since the floods of November 2021.
Hirsche has her bank card, however, and police are watching for any new transactions, Fred said.
Transactions prior to her disappearance included the purchase of trail markers, a compass and fishing bait, so Fred said it’s likely her mother intended to fish.
Friends and some family members joined Hope RCMP, Hope Search and Rescue, and the Lower Mainland District Integrated Police Dog Services in the search. Helicopters and dozens of personnel were involved over the past three days, Hope Search and Rescue told Global News.
Fred said the next step is to look across the Coquihalla River, anywhere near rivers, creeks or other places Hirsche could fish or find food, although Hope Search and Rescue told Global News that the search effort is suspended, since no trace of Hirsche has been found yet.
“We didn’t come up with any clues or anything. We’ve done a three day search prior to that,” said search manager Barry Gannon.
Fred described Hirsche as a busybody and an active woman — a “very lively person.”
Hirsche is described as five-feet-eight-inches tall and about 185 pounds. She has brown and grey short hair and green eyes, and was last seen wearing black leggings, white boots and a tan hoodie sweater with a red maple leaf on the front and a similar red design on the back.
She also has several distinguishable tattoos, including a bear and a fox on her chest, a bird on one arm, and a Celtic band with a letter ‘S’ and a bee on the other.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call Hope RCMP at 604-869-7750.
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