Skip to main content

Ashley Simpson: Vigil for Justice


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 years ago. Her killer has never been found, and her son Lance continues to struggle with the fact that there still are no suspects in the case. 




This year, we will also be holding vigil for Katrina Blagdon, a veteran, who went missing on December 31, 2021 from her St. Catharines home, and still has not been found. Her family travelled across the country to spend the last three months scouring the Niagara area looking for her. 

Katrina Blagdon


Finally, we ask you to think about Jaclyn Smith, another Canadian veteran, who disappeared from her home in Costa Rica in 2021 after a fight with her partner. She is still missing. 

If you are not familiar with these cases, please take a minute to learn about them.

If you do not pray, please light a candle, write a poem, post a piece of music on Ashley's Facebook page or on Katrina's page in their honour. You can also make a donation to Wings of Mercy a volunteer group that uses drones to find the missing in rural and remote communities. Or you can contribute to the fundraiser for Katrina.

Together, we can raise awareness about the plight of families who lose their loved ones in tragic circumstances. 

Our vigil will begin at 8 p.m. Hope to see you there! 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ashley Simpson: Don't Let Her Die in Vain

  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...

Ashley Simpson: A Father Remembers

I have asked Ashley Simpson's family and friends to give us a glimpse into the life she lived before going missing nearly a month ago. Here is how her father John remembers his sweet girl. Ashley was a treat when she came into this world, a smashing 9lbs 8 ounces with a  head full of hair and nails that needed to be clipped. She has made many friends in her journey of life and continues to make them as we speak. She has made this world a better place by her love of mankind and this place we call Earth; unfortunately this life she has lived hasn't been the best for her. She has suffered through unbearable pain and suffering through her menstrual cycles. She has cysts on her ovaries that make those 10 days a living hell. She had one of her ovaries removed when she was just 14; the other they won't take out till she is 40 or older. Years of hell for my Ashley. I so feel her pain every month but she doesn't quit, doesn't give in.   That'...

What Bell isn't telling you about Fibe TV

Update: This week, we switched back to Rogers after spending far too long using Bell's crappy television service. For those with Bell, read and weep. For those considering Bell, think twice even if you hate Rogers. RS I've always been an early technology adapter. I had a Betamax. That tells you everything (if you're over 50 at least). My first computer was a "Portable". It weighed 40 pounds and I had to lug it around town on a gurney. I've been through probably 15 computers in my lifetime. Apple is the best. It's also too expensive so I have a piece of shit HP, the one I'm writing this blog on. I've had cable, internet and now Netflix. American Netflix . That's how far ahead of the curve I am. I get all the newspapers for free. How? I disabled my cookies so they can't track me when I'm on the newspaper sites. Even the New York Times hasn't cottoned on to that trick. Hahaha. That will be a fifty buck consulting fee. Bein...