Saik'uz First Nation calls for help after 2 people disappear in single year

First Nations leaders are calling on the RCMP, media and the public to do more to help find two people who have gone missing from the Saik'uz First Nation over the past year.

Jay Preston Raphael, 28, and Chelsey Amanda Quaw (Heron), 29, were last seen at residences on the nation's land, located about 85 kilometres west of Prince George, B.C., in February and October respectively. 

In both cases, family and friends say their disappearance from the community, with an on-reserve population of about 400, is out of character and cause for concern.

"We are calling for more volunteers and resources to help increase search efforts," Saik'uz First Nation Chief Priscilla Mueller and the advocacy group Highway of Tears Governing Body said in a joint statement Friday.

The organization was formed in 2006 in response to a series of cases of women and girls, many Indigenous, who had either gone missing or been killed along Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert. In total, more than 40 women and girls are associated with disappearances along the 700-kilometre stretch of highway.

The formation of the governing body was one of the 33 recommendations that came from the 2006 Highway of Tears Symposium Recommendations Report, which called for various measures to improve safety in the area.

But Mary Teegee, one of the governing body's leaders, said the number of missing people shows that more still needs to be done.

"There seems to be little change in responsiveness," she said. "We need to do better as a community to come together and find our missing loved ones.

"Support your community, support the families, and please help bring Jay and Chelsey home."

Police have put out missing person alerts for both Raphael and Quaw and is appealing to the public for information.

According to RCMP in Vanderhoof, about 15 kilometres northeast of Saik'uz, Raphael was last seen on Feb. 26 walking away from a residence in Saik'uz and has not been heard from since. He is described as being five feet nine inches and 143 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Friends and family said it is unusual for him to not be in contact.

Similarly, Quaw is believed to have walked away from her father's home in the early morning hours of Oct. 11 and never returned.

According to her aunt, Tamara DeLong, her dad "thought she was going out to have a cigarette and that she would come right back."

Quaw is roughly five feet 10 inches tall, weighing 120 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.