April Lee-Ann Parisian is still missing. Hope that she will ever be found alive has faded.
But her siblings — Laura, Chad, and Jeremy Hall — say they haven’t given up on finding and bringing her home.
“At this point we know she’s no longer with us,” Chad said. “Her spirit is soaring around there somewhere. And at this point, we just need to continue our investigations and try to bring her home.
“We just want to bring her home, as much as we can.”
Nearly four years have passed since Parisian, from Spuzzum First Nation was last seen on Silver Skagit Road in Hope. The last time her family heard from her was on April 5, 2020.
A huge search involving more than 100 volunteers and the Hope Volunteer Search and Rescue was quickly launched as it became clear she had diappeared. People, drones, and canine units scoured Boston Bar, Hope, Chilliwack, Princeton and spaces in between.
Despite their efforts, and the continued efforts of family who kept searching each day for months, her body was never recovered.
Parisian’s fiance, Paris Margesson, was found with her truck and camper on April 16, 2020, dying from what police believe was a self-inflicted wound. Despite the efforts of paramedics, he died.
Margesson lived in Spuzzum with Parisian. He had been engaged to her since Oct. 1, 2018 and was the first person to report her missing. Family members said they believe Margesson may have also been the only person who knew what happened to her.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said they believed Parisian may have met with foul play and were treating her disappearance as a “suspicious missing persons investigation.”
Recently, Parisian’s family thought they’d gotten the “big break in the case” in the unfortunate news of a body. Remains of a Canadian had been found on the American side of Ross Lake on Oct. 12.
It was brought to their attention in the beginning of January through posts on the Search for April Facebook group. That post led Laura to a post by Chris Johnson on the PNW Fly Fishing Facebook group; while at the Ross Lake resort, his nephew had found human remains in a suitcase found in the lake. In that same post, Johnson said the remains were quickly reported to the resort’s office and on Oct. 13 the body was retrieved by the authorities.
According to Laura, the Canadian side of Ross Lake was one of the few places not searched by volunteers. After some back-and-forth, Laura said she was able to able to get a hold of the RCMP team now in charge of April’s case and waited for confirmation that her sister had been found.
Unfortunately, hopes were dashed Jan. 16 when RCMP informed them the body did not belong to their sister.
“Believe us when we say, any body that’s found anywhere in the lower portion of B.C., it’s almost like we get our hopes up because we don’t have our sister,” Laura said. “And when it’s not, my heart just drops.
“She’s out there somewhere. And we don’t know.”
Described as someone with a huge heart and a great love for the outdoors, Parisian was well-known and, according to her sister, greatly loved by her communities. She had a fondness for hunting and loved her dog dearly, a dog Jeremy said she would have never left behind.
Her disappearance has brought a daily void in her sibling’s lives they say can only be righted once their sister is found.
“That kind of feeling is always just there,” Jeremy said. “And deflated as it gets when you get your hopes up, and then all of a sudden its not the way it panned out to be, closure is all you can hope for right now.”
Parisian — who has a different mother — didn’t grow up with her siblings, who are from Quwutsun (Cowichan) First Nation. In fact, despite Parisian having attended the same high school as Laura, the siblings didn’t know of each other’s existence until 15 years ago when Parisian reached out.
Upon learning about her, Parisian’s siblings said, they immediately wanted to meet their sister and have her in their lives.
“There was nothing more than we wanted then to build a relationship with her,” Laura said. “And that was robbed. I feel robbed.”
Though their time with their sister wasn’t as long as they would have liked, Parisian’s siblings loved her and still love her dearly. It is this love, according to Parisian’s family, along with the support of their family and friends that has given them the strength to continue searching.
Their next step, Laura said, is to re-examine the timeline leading to her disappearance for overlooked clues, re-search areas, and find new areas to search. The timeline details the events leading up to and then after her disappearance and Laura said looking over it might help in finding clues they might have missed before.
Anyone interested in helping can visit their GoFundMe page, or join the Search for April Facebook group.
“I am super grateful for all the followers we have for Search for April as it made us feel supported,” said Deedee Eashappie, Parisian’s cousin. “And it comforts us that she still has an impact on people even though she hasn’t been found yet.
“We love the fact that people are still aware of her disappearance and keep looking for her because she is still out there somewhere. Never forgotten and we are always looking till we can bring her home to rest.”
Chad said he also wants more awareness raised about domestic violence and more support given to victims and survivors.
“For April, all the signs were there when she posted a couple times about her relationship on Facebook Live,” he said. “There was something about domestic violence and verbal abuse. And then she would immediately take it down when she was sober and stuff like that.
“If you see the signs or have a gut feeling, act on them.”
And as much as they don’t want Parisian’s story to end with their worst suspicions confirmed, they said that would still be better than having her remain away from the people and communities who love her.
“I constantly find myself looking for signs, like clothing, you name it,” Chad said. “I always got my eyes peeled and it’s always very much in my forefront.
“I just want to bring her home to give her the proper resting she deserves.”
READ MORE: Fundraiser underway for April Parisian billboards
@KemoneMoodley
kemone.moodley@hopestandard.com
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