Friday marked the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of Lindsey Nicholls, who was last seen as she left her temporary foster home on Royston Road on the BC Day long weekend in 1993.
The teen's intended destination was the Nautical Days festivities in Comox.
A Teddy Bear Picnic Friday at Port Augusta Park was intended to raise awareness of the file — which remains active at the Comox Valley RCMP detachment — and of DNA legislation in the works dubbed Lindsey's Law. The latter is hoped to become the framework for a national missing persons' DNA databank.
"The thing about the DNA legislation is that right now I don't have the comfort of knowing that if Lindsey's remains are found that I would know; I would not know," said Judy Peterson, Lindsey's mother. "In fact, they could be sitting in a coroner's office unidentified, and I would not know."
Peterson plans to speak with Peter MacKay and Steven Blaney, federal ministers of justice and public safety respectively, whom she hopes will "move things forward."
"Judy is a remarkable woman," said Amanda Pick, executive director of the Missing Children Society of Canada. "She certainly represents many families nationwide."
Thousands of Canadian children are reported missing every day, a large number runaways. Visit www.mcsc.ca for more information about Lindsey's Law and how to pass the legislation.
Police have pursued nearly 350 tips in the 20 years Lindsey has been missing. Despite the efforts of police and MCSC investigators, what happened to Lindsey remains a mystery.
She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a khaki top and white canvas shoes. Anyone with information regarding her disappearance is asked to contact the RCMP at 250-338-1321, MCSC at 1-800-661-6160 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
"Each time we have a media event about this file, it does generate some feedback from the public," said Paul West of the Comox Valley RCMP. "We've had opportunities as a result of these events that have furthered our investigation. Unfortunately those tips haven't gotten us to where we want to be with this investigation, and that's to find Lindsey."