Friends of Angel Carlick are asking volunteers to join their search party on Saturday morning.
The 19-year-old First Nations woman has been missing since May 31st. She was last spotted in downtown Whitehorse.
“I’m just holding out hope we’re going to find her alive, but even if it isn’t a good outcome the family will be able to have closure,” said Irma Scarf, the mother of one of Carlick’s friends.
Friends and family are not content with the RCMP’s response to her disappearance.
“They’re not doing enough,” said Scarf. “It’s like they put this on the backburner and are proceeding with everyday life.”
The five-foot, 100-pound woman vanished in June, leaving behind two paycheques, missing a graduation ceremony and abandoning a younger brother she had been planning to adopt.
Carlick grew up in Good Hope Lake, BC, but two years ago found herself homeless in Whitehorse and unable to finish high school.
She began working at the Blue Feather Youth Centre under supervisor Vicki Durrant. She found a place to live. She finished her classes and attended one of two graduation ceremonies this year.
“She was right proud of herself,” said Scarf.
Carlick didn’t show up at her second graduation ceremony in June. She didn’t call in sick to work. She didn’t tell anyone that she was making a trip.
The police keep telling Carlick’s family that they believe Carlick ran away — to the south, said Scarf.
But two uncles and an aunt in Vancouver have scoured the notorious downtown Eastside, looking for any sign or whisper from the girl — without success.
With no news from the police, Scarf and Durrant are taking it upon themselves to search for signs of Carlick in Whitehorse.
They are asking for volunteers to step forward and meet at the Blue Feather Youth Centre (2nd Avenue at Strickland) at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Volunteers will be asked to develop their own search plan, covering “anywhere that comes to mind for them in the surrounding area,” said Scarf.
However, searchers will likely focus first on the waterfront.
On May 31st, police found Carlick by the waterfront.
They questioned her for information on the May 22nd stabbing death of Colin Sawrenko, a 52-year old who had been living on the streets, said Scarf.
“They (the police) were the last people to be seen talking to her down by the river,” Scarf added.
She doesn’t know why the RCMP had not already undertaken a search themselves.
“That’s what’s really bewildering me.”
The RCMP did not comment before press time.