Reasons to suspect foul play
Lisa had not been seen or heard from since about 4am on Canada Day, July 1, 2002.
Repeated contact with the RCMP over the next three days failed to garner a response or any action.[1][2]
![Nothing's come up that would suggest foul play, we just don't know where she is. Const. Murray Conway [anim gif]](/w/File:Nothings-come-up.gif)
On July 4th, 2002 the Nanaimo Daily News published a statement from Nanaimo RCMP Cst. Murray Conway: “Nothing's come up that would suggest foul play, we just don't know where she is.”[1]
See also: RCMP didn't "suspect foul play" for 10 days
11 reasons to suspect "foul play"
- Calls to Lisa's cellphone were going straight to voicemail. Lisa had never before shut her phone off, and she'd always kept it charged.[1] She purchased the phone specifically so her parents could always reach her.[3]
- None of Lisa's many friends knew her current whereabouts[4] but several reported seeing her leave with an unknown man driving an expensive car.[5]
- Lisa's friend Dallas received a call around 3:30am where she said she was "getting pissed off" at the driver because "He won't bring me back." [6]
- An ominous text message, "They won't let me leave," was Lisa's final communication.[7]
- Lisa missed plans to move into her new apartment[8] which she'd made with her dad[1] and some of her friends.[9].
- Lisa missed her first day of training for a job[10][11] she'd been eager to start.[12]
- All of this was entirely unlike Lisa.[1][13] She'd always been very responsible and punctual.[14]
- Lisa's bank account was untouched since her "disappearance", even though it had money in it.[15]
- Lisa's cellphone stopped functioning, soon after her final ominous text message, which was traced to the Departure Bay area.[16]
- A neighbour of the houseparty to which Lisa was taken told police that he saw "what looked like a body in a hammock" in the backyard of 827 Nanaimo Lakes Road, and later, "equipment moving a lot of soil around".[17] (18 years later police finally searched the property but failed to locate Lisa's grave — even though that is where she's buried, at precisely 49.14502, -123.97504)
- Over 100 tips were called into the RCMP within a week of Lisa's father's coworkers distributing "missing" posters across the island.[18][14]
It was not reported until July 10th that police finally stated that they "suspect foul play".[1][19][20] (Once they did, the story immediately spread to news agencies across the province.)[19][20]
Around July 20th, police located Chris Adair — the man with whom Lisa was last seen. Around the 22nd he was questioned about Lisa's disappearance.[21][22]
It wasn't until weeks after the Jaguar was located that it was finally seized for forensic inspection, and it was discovered that the car had already been thoroughly steam-cleaned, effectively destroying any genetic evidence.[23][24]
Sometime in August, investigators received a tip which they determined warranted a search[8] of an outdoor area (near the prison where Chris Adair was being held on unrelated charges).[22][21] Police intended to begin the search at the start of September.[8]
The search was delayed until September 17 — eighty days after Lisa's disappearance.[22] Eighteen days of the delay was due to investigators being pulled off of Lisa's case to work on an "open and shut" daytime shooting[8] which was solved within 48 hours.[25]
The next known activity by RCMP concerning Lisa's case was 18 years later when the RCMP performed a search of the property where the first houseparty was located.[17] Police returned to the location at least two more times yet failed to locate Lisa's remains (which are located on the property at precisely 49.14502, -123.97504.
Clippings
CHEK News, Mar 26, 2018 (Kendall Hanson)[26] (video)
![[Lisa] said she was having a bath and then going out.](/w/File:Tc20040404a.png)
![[pieced together the evening based on] what Lisa's friends told them and what they learned 2nd-hand from tapping into a network of cabbies and couriers.](/w/File:Tc20040404f.png)
![She called every number in [Lisa's phone book]](/w/File:Nw20150501b.png)
![Lisa was out celebrating a friends' birthday.Nanaimo Daily News, June 26, 2009 [30]](/w/File:Ndn20090626a.png)
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (July 4, 2002),
Parents fear daughter the victim of foul play
(src) - ↑ Eric Plummer, Ha-Shilth-Sa (June 24, 2019),
Legacy of Lisa Marie Young to hang in Tofino
hss20190624 - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Jim Gibson, Times Colonist (Apr 4, 2004),
The case Nanaimo can't forget
tc20040404 - ↑ Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (June 24, 2005),
Memory of Lisa lives on
ndn20050624 - ↑ Jason Proctor, Vancouver Province (Sep 15, 2002),
RCMP continue to search for missing Nanaimo woman
p20020915 - ↑ Skye Ryan, CHEK News (May 5, 2021),
'Today's a very hard day': Family of missing woman Lisa Marie Young marks her 40th birthday
cn20210505 - ↑ Alexandra Mehl, CTV News (June 27, 2023),
We all just want answers': It's been 21 years since Lisa Marie Young disappeared from Nanaimo
ctv20230627 - ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (Sep 10, 2002),
Tips spark new search for woman
ndn20020910 - ↑ Jason Proctor, Vancouver Province (Sep 2, 2002),
Where is Lisa-Marie?
p20020902 - ↑ 10.0 10.1 Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (July 6, 2002),
Bar staff worried about woman
ndn20020706 - ↑ Jim Gibson, Star Phoenix (May 15, 2004),
Vanished
sp20040515 - ↑ This information was obtained first-hand by the author. ✎ Sworn declaration can be provided as needed.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (July 9, 2002),
RCMP keep searching for woman
ndn20020709 - ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (July 12, 2002),
Woman's disappearance leaves friends perplexed ...rumours unfounded
ndn20020712 - ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Nelson Bennett, Nanaimo Daily News (July 25, 2002),
Lisa's kin follow psychic tip
ndn20020725 - ↑ 16.0 16.1 Ha-Shilth-Sa (June 13, 2013),
Walk to remember Lisa Marie Young
hss20130613 - ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Kendall Hanson, CHEK News (Dec 17, 2020),
Nanaimo RCMP conduct new searches in nearly two-decade-old case
cn20201217 - ↑ Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (July 5, 2002),
City woman's whereabouts still unknown
ndn20020705 - ↑ 19.0 19.1 Alberni Valley Times (June 3, 2003),
Disappearance still a mystery
avt20030603 - ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (July 10, 2002),
Police fear local met with foul play
ndn20020710 - ↑ 21.0 21.1 BC Provincial Court Services Online, Government of BC,
Search Traffic/Criminal
→ Enter Last Name: (Adair), First: (Christopher), Enter Image Text, change no other fields, click Search - ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (Sep 18, 2002),
Grim Task: Police comb woods for Lisa Young
ndn20020918 - ↑ MP Paul Manly, Parliament, Ottawa (Oct 8, 2020),
House of Commons Debate #12 - October 8, 2020 (43-2) at 1525
hoc20201008 - ↑ Malcolm McColl, McColl Magazine (Feb 26, 2011),
Lisa Marie Young Disappeared, One of the MMIWG Not Forgotten
mcm20110226 - ↑ CBC News (Sep 3, 2002),
Police arrest husband in Nanaimo shooting
cbc20020903 - ↑ Andy Neal, CHEK News (Mar 26, 2018),
Man dies after being struck by a vehicle in Nanaimo Sunday
cn20180326 - ↑ Jim Gibson, Calgary Herald (Apr 18, 2004),
Lisa Marie Young: Vanished
ch20040418 - ↑ Allison Crowe Native Women's Association of Canada (May 1, 2015),
Story Telling - Lisa Marie Young
nw20150501 - ↑ Verity Stevenson, Toronto Star (Aug 6, 2016),
Inquiry brings back memories of Nanaimo woman missing since 2002
ts20160806 - ↑ Nanaimo Daily News (June 26, 2009),
Family will hold vigil for missing Nanaimo woman
ndn20090626
