Those who read this space regularly know that my family is frantic with worry about my cousin, Ashley Simpson, who has been missing 40 days now.
Both her boyfriend and her landlord reported that she had left with no money, no car, no resources from her Salmon Arm, B.C. home after a domestic dispute over money. Since then, there has been no trace of her. The RCMP now considers this a homicide investigation, but the family has not heard any updates from them in more than three weeks.
Just after she disappeared, her father, relatives and friends set out from St. Catharines on a long trek to B.C. to find her. They all left their work, and their lives, intent on finding Ashley who had always kept in touch. It was completely out of character for her to lose touch.
Her parents have been consumed by worry. They have been unable to work, and are having a hard time functioning. As a result, they are now relying on donations from family and friends to keep the wolf from the door.
Imagine if Ashley were your daughter, or sister. I know if one of my kids was missing, I would be unable to eat or sleep, let alone work at the hard jobs these folks do every day. That is why one of our cousins set up a GoFundMe page to help them. While the campaign has brought in more than $4,400 dollars, it is not enough to sustain the family through this ordeal.
You can help.
You can sign petition below, which recognizes the difficulties faced by families who are traumatized by crime and asks the federal government to lend its financial support to temporarily financially support them.
The petition, by Ricci Smith, states the following:
I think it is time for our Canadian government to help families of missing women in Canada financially. It cost money to locate a missing person and the police obviously don't have enough resources to keep up on the current number of missing women in Canada. If you could just put yourself in the family shoes for 10 minutes you would realize how much of a financial and emotional strain it is on everyone involved. Most families of missing loved ones cannot function on the day-to-day basis with no sleep can't work. I think it's time that we help out our fellow Canadians and friends and families of missing women. Maybe a volunteer task force. Criminal injuries can take years. These people need money as soon as their loved one goes missing. Time is everything! Please sign this petition and see if we can get some more attention drawn to this very important cause.
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