‘I JUST WANT TO KNOW THAT HE’S OK’
Prince George woman scours Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside for teenage son
At the corner of Main and Hastings, a Vancouver intersection home to more than its fair share of agony and loss, Phyllis Fleury broke down sobbing Thursday.
Her 16-year-old son, Colten Therrin Fleury, woke up early May 3 and left the Prince George hotel where she lives and works, just one day after being released into her care from a group home.
She hasn’t seen him since. But last Saturday night, Fleury got word from family that Colten had been spotted in the Downtown Eastside at Oppenheimer Park — welcome news after rumours of his death.
She borrowed a friend’s car and drove 750 kilometres south, so that by Sunday afternoon she was handing out hundreds of missing-person flyers to locals in hope they may have seen him.
“There’s so many stories going around,” said Fleury, weeping steps away from drug dealers and a caravan of ambulances.
“I put on Facebook that he should come wipe my tears and he’s not listening. I don’t know what’s going on with him. I just want to know that he’s OK.”
Fleury, a single mother, said life hasn’t been easy for Colten — he’s been in and out of Ministry of Children & Family Development care for most of it.
She quit drinking more than five years ago but, in the meantime, he discovered crystal meth, which has her worried he may overdose on fentanyl.
Fleury said she hopes someone will recognize Colten and call police so that he can come home, with help from the ministry. Colten’s six older brothers and sisters are worried about him, too, she added.
Thursday at the Aboriginal Front Door Society, Fleury dropped off flyers and spoke with staff before an elder led a prayer ceremony for her and Colten.
“If he was spotted in Oppenheimer Park, he’ll most likely be there for the next little while,” said Ian Bee, youth co-ordinator at the society.
He said the society helps a lot of families track down missing loved ones, but typically fewer than a dozen each year come from out of town, and usually they bring their own search groups. The society offered its resources to Fleury, pledging to help her with her search and spread word through the community to be on the lookout.
Bee, who considers himself a sort of “youth bounty hunter,” said the key to finding missing kids is to look for them at night because they usually sleep during the day.
They typically won’t visit youth organizations, where their photos are plastered everywhere.
When Bee spots a missing kid, he keeps his distance and phones police while carefully following them.
He won’t rest until someone is found, which can be within 24 hours, though not always, he lamented.
“With the missing persons, I take it personally,” Bee said. “Many people in my position helped me out when I was younger.”
Fleury said her band office at the Witset First Nation is also supporting her search for Colten and paid for her hotel for the week, though she plans to return home Satur- day unless she can find more help.
She said a woman at the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users told her she saw Colten at Oppenheimer Park Sunday night. Many people at the park Thursday recognized her flyers, and some offered to keep an eye out.
“People around on the streets are saying they saw him, he’s healthy, but nobody’s reporting him,” Fleury said.
“People say they take care of him down here, but nobody could take of him like I do.”
Colten is a First Nations male, 173 centimetres tall and weighs 54 kilograms. He has brown eyes and short brown hair, and was last seen wearing a red ho odie and jeans.
Prince George RCMP ask anyone with information about Colten or his whereabouts to call investigators at (250) 561-3300, or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477 or atpgcrimestoppers.bc.ca.
Fleury is urging anyone who sees her son to call 911.
While Colten’s case is an RCMP file, Vancouver police Const. Jason Doucette said local officers will assist with any missing persons investigation upon request.