Women team up to seek information on teen found dead at Salmon Arm farm
VERNON — A street campaign to piece together the final days of a teenager found dead on a Salmon Arm-area farm has launched in her hometown of Vernon, where she disappeared last spring.
Friday evening, a group of Indigenous women met outside the Upper Room Mission on 27th Avenue, where they brought stacks of flyers with photos and a description of Traci Genereaux, along with an appeal for information that may help police in their investigation.
On Wednesday, RCMP confirmed that remains they’d found on a farm at 2290 Salmon River Rd. were those of Genereaux, and the 18-year-old’s death was considered suspicious. No charges have been laid.
Jody Leon said her group advocates for missing and murdered women, and said their goal with the flyer campaign is to support police in their investigation by canvassing for tips from people who may be off the cops’ radar.
The women said they wanted to reach street people who don’t have access to a computer or phone, and offer them a means of contacting police, such as by allowing them to use their personal cellphones.
In recent years, Genereaux had become addicted to heroin, done sex work and frequented the mission and surrounding neighbourhood.
She was last heard from on May 29. A friend said he saw her that day entering a white Chevrolet van parked by a bush just down the street from the mission, in a lane near 37th Street and 26th Avenue.
“Almost every single person that we’ve talked to so far today has said that they know her or that they’ve seen her,” said campaigner Meagan Louis.
Some people told Leon, Louis and their friend Sherriann Abraham that they knew Genereaux but didn’t feel comfortable speaking to police, the women said. Most wanted to help.
“We’re kind of lending that hand, in a way, to bridge the gap between … the people who might be in trouble with the police or can’t really sort of put into words what they’re trying to tell us,” Louis said.
“Maybe we can come across a tip that is groundbreaking for the investigation.”
Outside the mission, a halfdozen people said they knew or met Genereaux, most describing her as a tough yet sweet girl who had “thick skin.”
Jennifer Gerstmeyer, who grew up in Vernon and was visiting the mission Friday, said Genereaux was like a niece to her and was a childhood friend to her son.
“Traci was loving, she was always full of energy, she would come over to the house with her brother and sister … just full of life,” she said.
Gerstmeyer was devastated by news Wednesday of her death, and said she was grateful to see the flyer campaign launch.
Darrin Lamb said Genereaux became his friend two years ago through the mission and through mutual friends.
“She was a spunky kid, she didn’t take s--- from nobody,” he said.
Lamb said Genereaux was well-liked in the community. Since she went missing, stories spread that she may have left town or had already been found. News of her death was heartbreaking for many.
“She was a good kid,” Lamb said. “I have to say, I miss her. I feel sorry for her mom.”
Curtis Sagmoen, whose parents own the farm where Genereaux’s remains were discovered, was arrested on unrelated charges last month. He is accused of pulling a firearm on a sex worker behind the sprawling 24-acre property in late August. He is in custody and set to appear in court on Nov. 23.
On Friday, police searched a barn in the property. They could be seen carrying mud and soil from inside the barn in orange Home Depot buckets to a station nearby where they sifted the soil, looking for evidence.
RCMP are asking anyone who may have seen Genereaux or who has any information about her to call their tip line at 1-877-987-8477.