Family looking for answers
Sister of Jenaya Wapemoose, last heard from April 7, strives to keep search active
Six months after Jenaya Wapemoose was last seen, her sister is no closer to knowing what happened but tries to stay optimistic.
“I’m just left in the dark waiting for her or waiting for answers,” Jackie Wapemoose said in an interview Tuesday. “The days and the months keep passing and I don’t know. I just don’t want to lose hope.”
Jenaya, 22, is originally from Cowessess First Nation but has lived in Regina since she was 10 years old. She was last seen on the 1800 block of Ottawa Street on March 10 and no one has heard from her through her regular social-media channels since April 7, her family says.
Regina police said she was reported missing on May 7.
On June 27, police said the case was being considered suspicious based on evidence from an “extensive investigation.”
In the first couple of months after Jenaya went missing, family and friends hung up posters around Regina, said Jackie, who estimated 50 people called her with tips on where Jenaya might be.
She passed along the information to police, but said the leads didn’t reveal anything. She hasn’t received any new tips in months.
“I feel like everything is pointing like she is gone, but I keep telling myself she’s stronger than that and I know she would fight to stay here, fight to be alive,” Jackie said.
“I just want them to find her. I feel like truly she’s still here alive. I don’t want to think something bad happened to her.”
To keep people on the lookout for Jenaya, Jackie has continued to hang up posters in Regina. She has also been doing some fundraising so she can travel to other cities, like Moose Jaw and Winnipeg, to put up posters and talk with people there as well.
“I just feel like people are forgetting about it, forgetting about her, and I don’t want that to happen,” she said.
“That’s all we can do, is just mention her name, and hopefully somebody will come forward ... I’ve just got to keep trying because I don’t want to give up.”
In her most recent contact with Regina police, a week ago, Jackie said she was told police were still working on the case and that there were still a few people they were trying to contact.
Jenaya is described as female, Indigenous, five-foot-four, 130 pounds, thin build with shoulder-length light brown, wavy hair and brown eyes. Noticeable markings include a tattoo of stars on her neck.
Police encourage anyone with information to call the RPS at 306-777-6500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.