The search for Chelsea Purman, a young indigenous woman who went missing in 2020, ended in tragedy after her remains were found in front of an empty home in Vancouver’s Shawnee neighborhood.
Executors found the remains of a 24-year-old woman, Kawacatoose, on April 22 while working on a property near Granville Street and West 37th Avenue, police said.
“This is not the result someone wanted. We have always hoped that Chelsea would be found alive and our sympathies are with everyone who knows Chelsea, loves her and hoped she would return home healthy,” said Sergeant. Steve Addison said in a statement.
Police do not consider Purman’s death suspicious, but did not provide any further details explaining how they came to this conclusion, other than reviewing the findings of the coroner’s investigation.
In a press release, the Vancouver Police Department said investigators believe Purman “probably died on the property the night she disappeared or shortly thereafter, but remained undiscovered because the house has been empty for years.”
Police met with the young woman’s family on Friday to share the findings.
The tragic announcement came a day after National Day of Awareness of Missing and Killed Indigenous Women and Girls, also known as Red Dress Day, which hosted ceremonies across the country, including Vancouver.
Purman disappeared after leaving a friend’s apartment in the city center on the night of September 6, 2020.
She spoke to her sister on the phone late that evening and suggested that she had a new love affair.
Her anxious family never heard from her again.
After a rally marking the first anniversary of her disappearance, the young woman’s mother, Sheila Purman, told CTV News that her daughter was missing from friends and family across the country.
“Chelsea has touched many lives, from Saskatchewan, from Manitoba. She made a lot of friends because she had a big heart and she always wanted to help others,” she said.
The family also expressed disappointment with the police response. Although Purman was reported missing on September 8, authorities did not announce her disappearance until September 18.
“I see other people disappearing and they immediately put them on the news,” said Sheila Purman. “I had a feeling Chelsea didn’t matter.”
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