‘Lisa will never be forgotten’: Nanaimo vigil marks 24 years since Lisa Marie Young disappeared

Nearly 24 years after Lisa Marie Young disappeared, family, friends and investigators are preparing to gather in Nanaimo this weekend with a simple message: She will never be forgotten.

The annual Forever Young Vigil will take place Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Blue Top Pavilion in Maffeo Sutton Park, bringing together loved ones, community members and members of the Nanaimo RCMP Serious Crime Unit.

Young was 21 years old when she vanished during the Canada Day long weekend in 2002. She was last seen after a night out with friends in Nanaimo. Her disappearance remains one of Vancouver Island’s most high-profile unsolved cases.

A life full of plans

For her aunt, Carol Frank, Lisa was a young woman with clear dreams and a growing independence before her disappearance.

“She wanted to be a sportscaster,” Frank told CTV News. “She really enjoyed sports. She loved the Vancouver Canucks.”

Frank said Lisa was in the middle of building her life, working, making plans, and preparing to move forward into a new chapter when she disappeared and says the passage of time has done little to ease the pain for the family.

“She didn’t deserve this. Even though it’s been 24 years, it still really hurts,” she said, unable to hold back tears.

She admits the hardest part is not knowing what happened.

Carrying the vigil forward

Frank is among the family members and advocates who have continued organizing the annual vigil following the death of Lisa’s mother, Marlene “JoAnne” Martin Young, from the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, who spent years leading the public search for her daughter before her death in 2017.

“It’s something my sister would want to continue,” Frank said. “That’s what makes me keep going.”

The vigil has grown into a major annual gathering, drawing speakers, performers and community members who come to honour Lisa’s memory and support her family.

“It’s good to see all the people that come together to honour Lisa,” Frank said. “And make sure she’s loved and missed and never forgotten.”

For Cyndy Hall, who knew Young through mutual friends and later became an advocate for the case, the passage of time has not lessened the loss.

“Lisa was really kind,” Hall told CTV News. “She was always happy when I was around her. She had goals and plans for her life when she was taken.”

Hall said one of her strongest memories of Young was her love of clothes and fashion.

“When she was a teenager, you couldn’t even see the furniture in her room because it was just covered with clothes,” she said with a laugh.

Hall says what she wants people to remember most is how she lived.

“She was a person. She deserved to live out her life,” Hall said. “She would have been 45 years old.”

Young’s disappearance devastated those who knew her and continues to leave painful unanswered questions for her family and friends.

“You never get over it,” Hall said. “When somebody goes missing and you know they’re murdered, but you can’t find the remains to bring them home and bury them with the dignity they deserve, it just makes it even more devastating.”

RCMP say case remains active

The investigation into Young’s disappearance is being led by the Nanaimo RCMP Serious Crime Unit, with Cpl. Tim Mason serving as the file coordinator and Cpl. Hayley Pinfold working as the primary investigator.

The team is supported by additional investigators and staff who continue to review evidence, re-examine tips and follow up on new information as it comes in. Police say the file remains active and is periodically reassessed, with investigators continuing to rely on public cooperation and witness accounts to help piece together what happened in the early hours of June 30, 2002.

“There are definitely people out in the community that have more details and more information about what transpired the evening that Lisa Marie went missing,” said Pinfold.

Pinfold said advances in technology and continued public engagement have helped keep the investigation moving forward.

A call for information

Police say the file has generated thousands of documents and hundreds of witness interviews since 2002. The family is offering a $50,000 reward for information on her case.

“We still care very deeply and are committed to doing what we can and doing our part to try and bring that closure to the family,” Pinfold said.

Investigators will be available at Sunday’s vigil and are encouraging anyone with information to come forward.

“We’re very aware of people’s reservations to coming to talk to us,” Pinfold said.

“Everybody has a point in time where they want to get things off their chest. We’re here and happy to have those conversations. There’s always a time in somebody’s life where they don’t want to hold on to things anymore.”

For Frank, that message is important, because she believes answers are still out there, waiting to be shared.

“It could be just a little something they didn’t think was important,” she said. “But it could be a piece of the puzzle that brings closure for our family.”

Holding on to hope

Despite the years that have passed, Frank says the vigil remains both painful and meaningful, a reminder of loss, but also of community support.

For the family, the goal remains unchanged.

“We just want to find who is responsible,” Frank said. “We want justice for Lisa and all the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.”

The Forever Young Vigil takes place Sunday, June 28, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Blue Top Pavilion in Maffeo Sutton Park in Nanaimo.

“It means a lot,” Hall said. “That people take the time out of their lives to show up and show that they still love and think of Lisa.”