Family trying to find missing woman
Deanna Desjarlais’ family members haven’t heard from her in months and now they are fearing the worst.
The 27-year-old woman from Saskatoon was last seen in Vancouver and her family fears something terrible may have happened to her on the streets there.
“That’s our fear, obviously. You think about Robert Pickton (the serial killer who targeted women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside),” said Dana Morenstein, a family friend who is helping lead the charge to find Desjarlais.
Desjarlais’ sister Felicity Desjarlais issued a personal plea, hoping it will somehow get through to Desjarlais.
“Deanna, if you are reading this, please call me. I will come get you. I’m not sure what you are going through or been through there, but you belong home, not there,” she said.
The Vancouver Police Department confirmed Desjarlais was reported missing by her family and that she was last seen in Vernon, B.C., in January, in Vancouver in April, and in Surrey in May.
“We continue to make inquiries and track her travels to determine where she may be and make contact with her so we can provide her family with information that she is OK,” Const. Brian Montague said in an emailed statement.
Felicity Desjarlais and Morenstein said Deanna Desjarlais lived a “highrisk lifestyle” and that she suffered from addictions issues that may put her at a higher risk out on the streets.
“She was always so happy and laughing, but I know behind closed doors she was suffering. She never let me see, though,” Felicity said.
Morenstein has set up a Facebook page and has distributed missing person posters in efforts to find her friend. She said she doesn’t want Desjarlais to be forgotten the way so many missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada have been.
“We are doing all the work. No one would know she is even missing if it wasn’t for us,” she said.
Morenstein said even though Desjarlais lived a high-risk lifestyle, her case deserves attention from the public and police.
“Even though she led that lifestyle, her life is just as important. Anyone who has any info or has had contact with her in the last months — even if they don’t think it’s important, it might just be that one clue,” she said.
Anyone with information about Deanna Desjarlais is asked to contact Vancouver police at 604-717-3321.