Rose's Cantina

  Six years ago, I was combing through my Facebook and I saw post from my cousin Julie Major. Her brother and his wife were frantically looking for their daughter Ashley who just days before had Facetimed her mom saying she was planning to return to her home in Niagara. Ashley never made it home. She was murdered in cold blood in her home in Salmon Arm then buried in a nearby field. It would be five and a half years before her body was located, and her boyfriend was charged with second degree murder.  Today, Ashley's urn has a sacred spot in her parents' home, and Derek Favell is in jail awaiting trial by judge and jury. The trial is expected to go into next year sometime. This has been an agonizing journey for Ashley's friends and family. The pain has never stopped, and the wounds are broken open every time the family has to sit through a series of pre-trial proceedings. Fortunately, this ordeal will end but the pain will never wane for the people, including me, who have b...

Amber Ellis, 33, is another woman to add to our list of missing woman in Ontario. Her mother Donna Ellis contacted me and asked that we remember Amber as part of our Vigil for Justice.  Amber is the mother of two children, and she disappeared without a trace on February 2021. You can read about her case here.

It worries me that six years later, these women or their remains have not been found. It's understandable given the fact that the Okanagan is a such a sprawling piece of Canada full of mountains, woods and creeks. Our Ashley Simpson is the only one. And while we are grateful for the small miracle that brought Ashley home to her parents, and put her boyfriend on trial, it still bothers me that the families of these women have no closure. Six years is a long time to grieve, but the Simpson family can tell you that not knowing what happened to a loved one is excruciatingly painful. Please read this excellent article , and share it, as a reminder that no woman is safe in this country, and justice is not always served. 

On April 30, there will be a virtual vigil for Ashley Simpson and other women who have been murdered or who are still missing in our country. Nearly every month, I am contacted with stories about these women and I would like to include as many as possible as part of the vigil. If you have a story you would like to share, please contact me at rosalita54@gmail.com On New Year's Eve 2017, Deidra Ann Smith and her boyfriend Justin Robichaud had much to celebrate. Deidra, a mother of three, felt her life was finally getting back on track after years of struggle. The couple decided to throw a party and invited the neighbours to their basement apartment in St. Catharines for a party. Later, in the wee hours of the New Year, the neighbour returned and bludgeoned the couple. Their bodies were transported 300 kilometres to Haliburton where they were lit on fire; the remains were covered with branches and abandoned. Her family filed a missing person's report on January 24. Three days prio...

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. Last April, we gathered around our bonfires and computers to pray that Ashley Simpson would be found and finally returned to her loving family. It was the fifth anniversary of her disappearance.  A few months later, her remains were found, and her boyfriend was sent to jail. He is now awaiting trial. On Saturday, April 30, 2022, the Simpson family is asking you to come back together to give thanks, and to once again pray. This time, we pray for justice for Ashley as well as for closure for the families of the many murdered and missing in this country.  There are still women missing in the Okanagan including Nicole Bell, Caitlin Potts and Deanna Wertz who all disappeared around the same time as Ashley. Their families continue to struggle, and need our continued support. We will also pray for family of Pamela Jones an elderly retired school teacher who was bludgeoned to death in her carport in Salmon Arm eleven y...