Search for missing woman ramped up five months after disappearance

[Wayne Leng]

[Wayne Leng]

Missing - Angeline Pete

From Post Media:

The search for a North Vancouver woman who has been missing for five months has taken on new urgency after it came to light she may have been hitchhiking in northern B.C. when she vanished.

Angeline Pete, 28, was reported missing in May after she left home and lost contact with family. Initially, investigators believed Pete may have left town to work with a travelling carnival, as she had done in the past, and that she may have been bound for Alberta. But in the following weeks, as her financial and social media accounts remained inactive and she continued to stay out of contact, their concern increased.

In August, three months after her disappearance, North Vancouver RCMP issued a release to media looking for tips from the public. Little new information came to light. Now, another two months on, they have passed the case to their serious crimes unit.

The team has since learned Pete might have hitchhiked through northern B.C. to the Peace River area of Alberta, a suspicion that has raised alarms. The stretch of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert, dubbed the Highway of Tears, has gained notoriety in recent years for a series of unsolved murders and disappearances of women along its length.

The unit is contacting media in some of the community’s along Pete’s suspected route in the hope they might turn up tips, said Cpl. Richard De Jong, a spokesman for the North Vancouver RCMP.

“With the time lapse now and absolutely no contact with family, no financial communication records at all and the potential of her hitchhiking to Kamloops and north, (they) thought we should canvass B.C. for any sightings of her,” said De Jong. “If she’s hitchhiking, maybe somebody picked her up; maybe somebody knows her whereabouts; maybe she’s working part time somewhere. There are all kinds of scenarios.”

There is also an outstanding warrant for Pete’s arrest for failing to appear in court, he said, although he emphasized police are focused primarily on her safety at this point.

De Jong passed along a plea from Pete’s mother: “We just need to know that you are safe and sound and well looked after,” she wrote. “Please call home. We love you, Princess.”

Pete is aboriginal, 28 years old, five feet four inches tall and 150 pounds with long dark hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the North Vancouver RCMP Const. Jaime Miles at 605-969-7519.

 

 

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