Nothing takes the sting away of losing a loved one in a tragic accident.
But stealing memorial signs erected to their memory only adds to the heartache as one North Okanagan family is experiencing.
Memorial signs for Lumby’s Cameron Wolfe have gone missing from the crash site on Creighton Valley Road. Wolfe was a popular teenager involved in minor hockey, and a recent graduate of Charles Bloom Secondary School, when he was killed in a motor-vehicle accident Oct. 11, 2008.
The green signs with white lettering erected on a pole imitating an intersection road sign read ‘Cameron Av 1200’ and ‘Wolfe Drive.’ The pole and memorial crosses erected at the site were left behind but the signs have gone missing.
“It affects more than just our family as we’ve been living with his loss for a decade now,” said Wolfe’s older sister, Ashley Gamache. “The bigger picture is that if affects the whole community and everyone that knew and loved him. It was something to honour and remember him.”
RELATED: Crash near Lumby claims life, passenger airlifted to hospital
Gamache’s mom had gone to the site on the anniversary, Oct. 11, and noticed the signs were missing. The family believes they were taken on or before Oct. 10.
“We have no reasons as to why they would have been taken,” said Gamache. “We have looked into seeing if it was a decision by the Village of Lumby to take down, and it wasn’t. We looked into seeing if it was a highways decision, and it wasn’t. We also contacted the property owner and, again, it wasn’t them.
“It doesn’t make any sense to have them taken down now when they’ve been up for 10 years now.”
The family posted the incident on Facebook, hoping for some leads or tips. They’ve received a lot of support, a lot of anger and sadness as to who would take the signs, but no clues as to the signs’ whereabouts.
The family would love to have the signs returned. Anybody with any information can call Gamache at 250-309-6099.
@VernonNewsroger@vernonmorningstar.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
