Search for tree planter draws attention to other missing girls

Friends and family of five teenage girls who disppeared in the B.C. Interior say those cases have at least one thing in common with that of a missing tree planter something they call "the highway of tears."

Nicole Hoar, 25, disappeared in late June while hitchhiking along Highway 16 near Prince George, B.C.

Over the last decade, five other girls have disappeared along the same stretch of highway. Their families say they hope the search for Hoar will rekindle interest in the earlier disppearances.

• FROM JULY 7, 2002: 100 scour B.C. wilderness for missing woman

Hoar's family says there's been an outpouring of support from family and community members. People across the country have called with phone tips, the Hudson's Bay Company has offered a $25,000 reward, and an Olympic skater is holding a fundraiser.

Hoar's father Jack says the efforts are helping the family carry on. "We have not given up and we won't give up. Our opportunity here is to bring our daughter home and that's what we're sticking to."

After the disappearance of the five aboriginal girls, locals started calling the road the "highway of tears." Three girls were found murdered while two are still missing.

In Terrace, criminologist Melissa Munn says Hoar's disappearance may refocus attention on the cases.

"If these women were young, blonde white woman, I think we would be seeing a much greater interest by the media and by the public," says Munn.

"I'm hoping with Nicole's disappearance it will add flame and remind people that the other girls haven't come home yet."

While she believes all the disappearances are linked, the RCMP say there's no evidence to support it.

"The only common denominator between her disappearance and the previous cases is the fact she was on Highway 16. Highway 16 is 900 kilometres long," said RCMP Const. Mike Herchuk.

He says police recently spent months going through all the files about the missing girls, but turned up nothing new.