An anonymous donor has come forward with a $50,000 US reward to help bring closure to the family of a Nanaimo woman who went missing nearly two decades ago.
On the night of June 29th, 2002, 21-year-old Lisa Marie Young left her parents’ residence at around 11 p.m. to go to a nightclub with several friends before going to a house party.
She left with a man in a Jaguar before calling a friend back at the party. To this date, this person hasn’t been identified and there are reports Young called a friend stating she didn’t know what was going on and that the man wouldn’t bring her back.
Police believe Young’s disappearance was the result of foul play even though they’ve never found her remains.
According to Cyndy Hall—who has been advocating on behalf of Young for years—Young would have turned 41 on May 5th.
“We have been working on setting up a reward. The reward will be for Lisa’s body. A anonymous donor is donating money to get the reward started. We can’t thank the donor enough,” Hall wrote in a Facebook post.
The $50,000 reward was brought forward in hopes new information can be brought forward and the remains of Young can be located.
Investigators believe finding her remains is the break they need. Her body could contain evidence that leads them to more information on what happened.
In December 2020, two Vancouver Island activists spearheaded a movement to try and gather information about missing Indigenous women who lived on the island, including Young.
At the time, there were two large electronic billboards featuring photos of missing women Angeline Pete and Lisa Marie Young and seeking information about their whereabouts.
