NANAIMO — Despite momentum built toward cracking a historic cold case of a presumed local homicide victim, answers remain elusive.
A 21-year-old Lisa Marie Young vanished during the early morning hours of June 30, 2002, after friends reported she accepted a ride with a man to go on a late-night food run in Nanaimo.
All these years later, the Indigenous woman is still unaccounted for, while no arrests or charges resulting from Young’s disappearance have materialized.
Lisa Marie Young was a well-liked woman who previously attended Brechin elementary and Woodlands Secondary School. (Submitted photo)On Sunday, June 29, an annual awareness march departs from the Nanaimo RCMP detachment at about 11:15 a.m. en route to Maffeo Sutton Park, where musical performances and speeches from elected leaders and advocates start at 12 p.m. at Lions Pavilion.
“It’s everything for us for people to come out and join us in our raising awareness in being Lisa’s voice that was so violently taken from her; she still doesn’t have it because she’s still not home,” Young’s friend Cyndy Hall told NanaimoNewsNOW.
Young’s case began to receive considerably more attention after an in-depth podcast by Port Alberni’s Laura Palmer was released in 2020.
Island Crime Season 1: Where is Lisa? is available on multiple podcast platforms.
At the following year’s annual justice march in Young’s honour, Nanaimo RCMP revealed several witnesses had come forward who were previously hesitant to do so.
Submitted tips included “credible and important” information, according to Nanaimo RCMP’s Serious Crime Unit.
Several physical searches by Nanaimo RCMP commenced as a result, and further police searches were planned at undisclosed locations.
Numerous privately-led searches for Young’s remains have also been conducted over the years.
The public is encouraged to attend Maffeo Sutton Park for music and addresses from speakers on Sunday, July 29 starting at 12 p.m. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)As Young’s disappearance approaches the 23-year mark, Hall said Young’s family deserves to know where she is and who’s responsible.
“They’re stuck in the same sad trauma of not knowing,” Hall said.
Sunday’s Maffeo Sutton Park event is titled ‘Forever Young’, an acknowledgement of Lisa’s love for music.
Hall said there was no reason for Young’s life to be taken away.
“Her life goal was just to live life happy and to the fullest. We just want her home, and we know people have information and they need to come forward.”
A privately submitted $50,000 reward in U.S. dollars remains in effect for information leading police to her whereabouts.
The cash reward is conditional on the tipster not remaining anonymous.
A memorial tree and plaque in Young’s honour at the north end of the Departure Bay Beach walkway were unveiled last fall.
Cyndy Hall has been a diligent, tireless advocate pushing for a resolution in Lisa Young’s case (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)Subscribe to our daily news wrap. Local news delivered to your email inbox every evening. Stay up to date on everything Nanaimo and Oceanside.
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