Eva Pucci Couture just has to think about the 2019 disappearance of her son and she dissolves into tears.
There have been numerous searches on Elk Mountain in Chilliwack for 25-year-old Kristofer Couture in recent years but not a single trace of him has turned up.
“I’m here today because it’s been five years to the day that Kris went missing,” Couture said.
Couture was stationed outside the Sardis Safeway in Chilliwack all day on Friday (Jan. 26), graciously accepting donations alongside Chilliwack Search and Rescue, and Chilliwack Salvation Army Food Bank.
She was greeting community members, through her tears, and letting them know that her son’s still missing, and she’s still looking for him.
Eva Pucci Couture (right) hands out flyers outside Sardis Safeway on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. That day marked the fifth anniversary of the disappearance of her son, Kristofer Couture. She was also collecting non-perishable items for the food bank, plus cash donations for Chilliwack Search and Rescue and the Salvation Army. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)
Her sorrow is all their efforts and kind wishes have turned up nothing to date.
She was on Elk Mountain on Thursday (Jan. 25) in Chilliwack when her phone rang. Someone was pledging $10,000 in new reward money to continue to the search for answers.
The only trace of Kris they found was his car with Alberta plates, at the trailhead of the Elk Mountain on Jan. 26, 2019.
Kris had reported to his roofing job workplace in Maple Ridge on Jan. 25, and had exercised at a gym in Burnaby on that same day. He was last seen leaving the Royal Columbian in New Westminster the following day.
Couture has described her son’s absence as being akin to missing a “piece” of herself.
Eva Pucci Couture (right) speaks with media outside Sardis Safeway on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. That day marked the fifth anniversary of the disappearance of her son, Kristofer Couture. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)
She hopes the new topped-up reward money, now totalling $20,000, will help jog someone’s memory.
“I cannot express our gratitude enough for their generosity.
“We’re hoping we’ll get some more tips because there have been so few since the pandemic hit,” she said.
She’s also planning to print out some fresh missing posters.
“So I’m hoping with the increase in reward money someone will remember something. So either they’ll keep searching that mountain with me or maybe they’ll just remember something from 2019.
“Because there are still so many unanswered questions.”
Couture said she doesn’t know if he actually went hiking on that fateful day of his disappearance, or was on the mountain at all? His car was found, with the back window smashed out several months after he went missing.
Maybe someone will remember seeing him in January 2019.
The mountain is holding all the cards, Couture said.
“I’ve tried to conquer that mountain but the mountain conquers me every time,” she said.
READ MORE: Missing man’s mom returns to Chilliwack 5 years later
Eva Pucci Couture speaks with media outside Sardis Safeway on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. That day marked the fifth anniversary of the disappearance of her son, Kristofer Couture. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)
