Family of missing April Parisian still hopeful she'll be found alive

Keitha Parisian has been looking after her granddaughter's pug Chipper since the dog was recovered by police earlier this month.

The 85-year-old said Chipper was found all dirty inside April Parisian's truck and camper, which had been parked on Vye Road near the border between Chilliwack and Abbotsford, B.C. 

That's also where the missing woman's boyfriend, Paris Margesson, was found suffering from a fatal, allegedly self-inflicted wound, according to homicide investigators.

The question of where 45-year-old April Parisian is, however, remains a painful and distressing mystery for her grandmother, the rest of her family and the scores of friends and supporters who have taken part in ground searches from Chilliwack all the way to Boston Bar in the Fraser Canyon.

"It's so depressing, and I'm feeling really down about it," Keitha Parisian, who raised April nearly from birth, said from her granddaughter's home in Spuzzum, B.C., on Wednesday.

Friends and family have kept a fire perpetually lit at the house — a symbol of their hope Parisian will soon come home alive.

Friend Tammy Germain has helped serve as spokesperson for the family, and took part in the interview at Keitha Parisian's side.

She said searchers have struggled with a lack of information and a massive area to cover.

"The area is so vast," said Germain. "... It's mountains, it's rivers, it's creeks, it's bush, it's bears, it's animals."

She said that's what both Parisian and Margesson loved. Parisian has been interested in hunting, collecting wild herbs, learning traditional First Nations culture and being connected to the land.

Germain emphasized Parisian's strong spiritual streak, and said a huge network of extended family and friends across the country is praying for her.

The family has taken advice from a clairvoyant, who has shared visions. Those visions are part of what has contributed to focusing the search around areas where the couple may have been camping along the Fraser Canyon.

'She always had a kind word to say'

Germain said the amount of support the family has had from across the country is a testament to how loved Parisian is.

"Just the phone calls — I mean, it's non-stop phone calls. And it's all from people she's made an impact [on] — she just touched lives," Germain said, adding that a group on Facebook about Parisian's disappearance has more than 1,600 members.

"She always had a kind word to say," said Germain. "If I had one word to describe April, it would be sunshine."

Keitha Parisian laughed as she recalled raising her granddaughter, who loved to ice skate and spent a lot of time at the roller rink in Surrey, B.C., as well as horseback riding.

She admires her granddaughter's culinary skills and the smells she created in the kitchen.

"Oh god, she was a good cook," she said.

The warm memories of Parisian fuel the people taking part in the search effort and supporting from afar online. But it's a challenging task. 

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said she may be the victim of foul play, and are looking to hear from anyone who may have seen Parisian or her truck and camper in early April. Police say she was last heard from March 28.

Keitha Parisian told CBC News she spoke with her granddaughter in early April, and spoke to Margesson over the phone in mid-April, when he told her he had Parisian's cellphone and was going to make a missing person report to police.

Germain said police haven't shared many details of their investigation.

"It's difficult to figure out what happened. We don't know a lot, which makes it hard, but at the same time it gives us hope," she said.

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