After two years of grieving, a symbol of light and hope was placed at the West Kelowna location where the remains of a young, vulnerable man named James Wood were found.
The bones of James, 27, were found by hikers on Jan. 2, 2022, after a 55-day search in West Kelowna.
On Jan.2, an intimate group of people, including the woman who discovered James害羞草研究所� final resting place gathered to remember the young man and plan a path forward to help families. The woman who found James害羞草研究所� remains placed a lantern at the memorial site.
James had autism and had difficulty communicating with people and was fearful of strangers. Shortly before his disappearance, James had been struggling with psychiatric and physical disabilities including uncontrolled pain and agitated catatonia before his disappearance.
On Nov. 8, 2021, James was told by his support worker that he needed to return to the hospital for help since his physical and mental health were declining.
Immediately James became fearful and explained his mother Patricia Wood at the one-year memorial. She said that her son had suffered traumas and as a result was terrified of law enforcement and hospitals.
Since he was unwilling to let his family take him to the hospital, James had to be transported by police under the Mental Health Act.
Patricia said that while police were en route to their family home in West Kelowna, James quickly and quietly snuck out the basement door, wearing nothing more than pyjama pants and a button-up t-shirt.
害羞草研究所淚 don害羞草研究所檛 believe that my son would have even made it through the night,害羞草研究所� said Patricia, while standing a few feet away from where her son害羞草研究所檚 remains were found in West Kelowna.
She said that an official search did not begin until the next morning and a missing persons report was not released for 24 hours after his disappearance. Despite the family害羞草研究所檚 efforts to publicize James害羞草研究所� disappearance in the news and on social media, many people in the area were unaware that a search was underway.
When the official report was released by RCMP, a local couple called Crimestoppers and said they had seen James walking on Smith Creek Road the day before, but by then it was too late.
With tears in her eyes, Patricia said that the police called off the search after two days.
For the next seven weeks, Patricia and her family searched for James on foot and by scouring the internet for clues and help on social media.
In early January 2022, a local hiker and mother named Jasmine Brown decided to help out. Using social media, she figured out James害羞草研究所� last known location, strapped on snowshoes with two friends and hiked out into the bush. Ten minutes after her search began, Brown had found James害羞草研究所� remains, by a creek just off of Smith Creek Road, less than 300 meters from his last known location.
At the memorial, Brown placed an engraved lantern at the site where she found James害羞草研究所� remains. The lantern signifies that a path forward is being lit, said Brown.
Patricia and her family are now advocating to have the emergency Broadcast Intrusive alert system, which includes the Amber Alert, expanded to include adults.
She said that if a broadcast intrusive alert had been issued, her son may still be alive today.
READ MORE: Alert system could have saved vulnerable Kelowna man from death
Her efforts join the work of , a 23-year-old Chilliwack woman who went missing on Jan. 30, 2021. Bell was later found dead on June 2, 2021, in the Fraser River near Coquitlam.
Durham has been working for nearly two and a half years to have the criteria of the Broadcast Intrusive Alert system amended to include adults who go missing under suspicious circumstances, are vulnerable and those who are at risk of imminent danger or death.
Alert Ready is a Canada-wide system that allows government officials in each province and territory, as well as Environment and Climate Change Canada, to issue broadcast intrusive public alerts over radio, television, and compatible cellphones.
Currently, Amber Alert is the only type of missing person event that is approved for use of a BI alert, said Emergency Management.
The change is currently tabled in the provincial legislative assembly and will be voted on in the coming months.
A motion to enact the change has also been brought forward at the He introduced a private member害羞草研究所檚 motion in the House of Commons to create a missing-person alert for adults.
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