The Jungle Cabaret

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The Jungle Cabaret was a nightclub formerly located at 241 Skinner Street in Nanaimo, BC, and was not a club police readily associate with trouble..[1] The Jungle' was owned by Nanaimo-born Paul Manhas[note 1] and which later became Club 241[4] and, more recently, Evolve Nightclub.

This article is largely based on 1st- and 2nd-hand information, supplied to the author during personal interaction with Lisa and Dallas at The Jungle between midnight and 1am on Canada Day 2002, and subsequent conversation with Dallas.

As such, links to "reputable external sources" are not possible for some of these claims, however, the author has provided this information to the lead RCMP investigator assigned to Lisa's case and has expressed a willingness to testify to these claims under oath in open court.

Lisa Marie Young left her Barons Road[5] apartment sometime after 11pm on June 30th, 2002.[1] She then met up with her friend Dallas Hulley.[6][7]

Jungle
The Jungle Cabaret (circa 2002)

It was Dallas's 23rd birthday[8], and the pair had promised they'd celebrate together on each other's birthday,[9] as they had on Lisa's 21st, eight weeks earlier.[10] Dallas had been drinking since morning.[9][11] Lisa had shared a single beer with her father before going out.[12]

Together the two headed downtown to The Jungle Cabaret (241 Skinner Street), arriving around 11:45pm.[13] Outside the bar Lisa and Dallas bumped into a group of her girlfriends who were just leaving. A conversation followed about how the bar was slower than expected for a long weekend.[9]

A man (later identified as Chris Adair) was standing nearby and joined in the conversation. He agreed that the bar was boring, and he spoke of a big house party that was underway. Lisa's friends then left.[9] He drew attention to the mint-condition Jaguar XJ-40 that he was driving.


Lisa later said the conversation went something like this:[9][11]

Chris Hey you wanna ditch this lame bar and go hit a big party?
Lisa Thanks, but I promised Dallas I’d party with him on his birthday.
Chris Well, then Dallas should come too. Hey Dallas, do you like free alcohol?!
Dallas Yes, I do!
Lisa Thanks, but I just got here, and haven’t even said Hi to my friends inside yet.
Chris No problem, I don’t mind waiting!
Lisa Thanks, but I’m going to be a while; I’ve got lots of friends!
Chris That’s okay, take your time, Dallas and I will be right here, whenever you’re ready!
Dallas Hurry up Lisa!
Lisa Umm okay, I guess.

Adapted from our video:
Video The Jungle (What Really Happened) (YouTube)


Lisa turned heads[11] when she entered The Jungle Cabaret, alone, at about midnight on Canada Day 2002.[5][11][13] She wore a black miniskirt with zippered black-leather thigh-high boots, a cropped black leather jacket[14], a small leather purse and a unique chain made up of stainless-steel rings,[11][15] which she wore first as a necklace, later changing it to wear as a belt.[11]

Jaguar XJ-40
The Jaguar XJ-40 driven by Chris Adair

Chris Adair,[16] the driver of his grandparent’s[17] Jaguar XJ-40[18] kept Dallas occupied outside with conversation about the car, and about how awesome the party would be.[9]

Lisa did indeed have a lot of friends; they occupied at least half of the tables in the bar.[11] During the next hour, she made her way from table to table, visiting with everyone she knew.[9]

When someone commented to Lisa about the music being louder than normal, Lisa explained that, normally, the volume level requires adjustment depending on how many people are in the bar since "bodies absorb the sound waves".[11] Lisa went on to explain that, since it was a Sunday, there was no DJ scheduled to work, so the volume was still set to the level from the previous (much busier) night.[11] She then entered the DJ booth, lowered the sound system's volume, and queued a favourite song.[11]

Listen to the Top 20 songs for Canada Day long weekend 2002. (source)

Lisa drank nothing while at The Jungle, politely declining multiple offers to buy her a drink.[11]

After a while, the driver sent Dallas into the bar to check on Lisa.[11] This repeated twice more before Lisa finally agreed to leave. Lisa had told a friend that she didn’t want to go to the party, but she felt obligated.[11]

Lisa left The Jungle at around 1am on July 1st. The trio attended at least two house parties that night.[14]

The first was across the street from Colliery Dam Park, at 827 Nanaimo Lakes Road.


Google Street View of 241 Skinner Street, Nanaimo, circa 2009

Notes

  1. Paul Manhas was born in Nanaimo, and graduated around 1992 from Wellington Secondary School. It's rumoured that on Paul's nineteenth birthday his father gave him a liquor store, the first of several Nanaimo-area alcohol-related businesses which Paul acquired in the years that followed, including The Jungle, the Old Flag Inn, and the Palace Hotel — all three of which were located on Skinner Street, and employed Lisa as a bartender/server[2][3]

See also

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 Jim Gibson, Times Colonist (Apr 4, 2004), The case Nanaimo can't forget tc20040404
  2. Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (July 6, 2002), Bar staff worried about woman ndn20020706
  3. Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (July 12, 2002), Woman's disappearance leaves friends perplexed ...rumours unfounded ndn20020712
  4. Danielle Bell, Nanaimo Daily News (May 19, 2009), Police hope TV spot sheds light on cold case ndn20090519
  5. 5.0 5.1 Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (July 4, 2002), Parents fear daughter the victim of foul play ndn20020704
  6. Verity Stevenson, Toronto Star (Aug 6, 2016), Inquiry brings back memories of Nanaimo woman missing since 2002 ts20160806
  7. Rebekah Schroeder, Medium (Sep 21, 2021), Seeing Red in Nanaimo - The Case of Lisa Marie Young mb20210921
  8. Trudy Hulley, Nanaimo News Bulletin (Mar 25, 2018), Dallas Barry Hulley obituary nnb20180325
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 This information was provided directly to the author by a credible, reliable source who was present. ✎ Sworn declaration can be provided as needed.
  10. Lynn Welburn, Nanaimo Daily News (Apr 29, 2004), Allison Crowe's first solo album 'raw and honest' ndn20040429
  11. 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 This information was obtained first-hand by the author. ✎ Sworn declaration can be provided as needed.
  12. Jason Proctor, Vancouver Province (Sep 2, 2002), Where is Lisa-Marie? p20020902
  13. 13.0 13.1 Crime Stoppers (May 15, 2009), Lisa Marie Young - re-enactment (video) yt20090515
  14. 14.0 14.1 Denise Titian, Ha-Shilth-Sa (May 15, 2012), Family seeks closure 10 years after daughter's disappearance hss20120515
  15. Ha-Shilth-Sa (Nov 20, 2003), Missing Person: Lisa Marie Young hss20031120
  16. MP Paul Manly, Parliament, Ottawa (Oct 8, 2020), House of Commons Debate #12 - October 8, 2020 (43-2) at 1525 hoc20201008
  17. Anonymous, Casefile (July 26, 2016), Case 26: Lisa Marie Young pod20160726
  18. CaseWarriors, Missing Poster: Lisa Marie Young (Source)