A local dad says it’s time for the community to pay their respects to a missing mom.
Kelly Rideout was reported missing in July of 2011, after she was last seen at a residence in Chilliwack, said Duane Stamper of Agassiz.
A Celebration of Life for Kelly Rideout is set for 3 p.m. on March 15 at Seventh-Day Adventist Church at 46024 Riverside.
“She deserves to be remembered,” says Stamper.
“If you have any pics or any of her poems I would like to hear about them,”
Rideout would have been 37 last year, but she has never been seen since she went missing to his knowledge, Stamper said.
In the wake of the 2011 disappearance it was believed Rideout, who struggled with addictions, possibly met with foul play, but no evidence was ever found.
“It’s time for us to move on now,” Stamper says.
Although he and Rideout separated, they had stayed friends. He now has custody of their little girl, Alyssa, now six years old.
“My daughter and I have been suffering the whole time, looking for her for the past two and a half years,” Stamper told The Progress. He said he lost employment and drank heavily in his grief of losing Kelly, whom he first met in 2003.
Stamper wrote on the Facebook page, Help Find Kelly Rideout.
“Although her body has not been found, it’s unknown if it will ever be.
“Thank you for your support in the search. If you have information now is the time. If not she will be remembered for the good times and never forgotten. Thanks again….Duane.”
The last words Rideout told her daughter when she saw her at her sister’s place out of province in July 2011 was: “I’ll be right back,” according to Stamper. She was going to head to B.C. to pick up her clothes.
“I reported her missing on July 15,” Stamper said. “And the police told me that she was incarcerated and there was nothing to worry about.”
He then prompted Rideout’s sister to report her missing as well.
Another Facebook page on the memorial is called Celebration of Kelly Rideout.
jfeinberg@theprogress.com
Twitter.com/chwkjourno
