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Jaclyn Smith Ferland: Five Months Gone

 



I received a request recently to raise awareness about the disappearance of a B.C. woman who vanished from her home in Costa Rica after a fight with her husband. 

Jaclyn Smith Ferland, 40, was reported missing in August from her home near Playa Hermosa after returning home from a  physiotherapy session. 

A Facebook page has been set up, and dedicated to the search for the Canadian forces veteran whose husband said that she left on foot in "mental distress" after becoming angry with him. She left, he said, after he went into the shower. 

This is another disturbing missing person case with an all too familiar ring to it. She left. On foot. With only her passport and wallet, but no suitcase. There has been no trace of her, and no activity on her bank and credit cards. 

Family and friends of Jackie say there was no reason for her to disappear into thin air, with no sightings, no cab rides, so security footage, or phone calls home. 

A former acquaintance of Jackie, Krista Marshall, who lives in Costa Rica, has joined in the search for the missing woman. Jackie's family has flown to Costa Rica from their home in Abbotsford. 

Krista contacted me because she was frustrated that nothing was being done. 

"This case is incredibly confusing," she told the Abbotsford newspaper. "There have been zero leads. I know from a case last year where a woman went missing and was found six days later that the environment is very hostile. But how can they find nothing at all?"

The case is very similar to that of Katrina Blagdon, another veteran who went missing in St. Catharines on New Year's Eve. There is no trace of Katrina despite a massive search in the area. Her family is still in the Niagara area and is being supported by volunteers and donations. 

Among the volunteers are the parents of my cousin Ashley Simpson who disappeared nearly six years ago in Salmon Arm. Her body was discovered in December and her boyfriend has been charged with murder.

How can so many women vanish into thin air?

Nothing seems to add up. 

Why do the authorities and the media lose interest just days after these women go missing?

Please share.

No More Stolen Sisters. 





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