Caitlin Potts left sister chilling last message before she disappeared from B.C. Interior

Caitlin Potts has been missing for almost four months and family members are starting to fear the worst.

Pott's sister, who goes by the name Codi Potts, says there are a number of chilling clues the 27-year-old First Nations mother left behind before she vanished. Her last known location was either Enderby or Kelowna. B.C.

"She left me a message the morning she went missing saying she had found a ride on Kjiji to Calgary."

In the message, sent via Facebook the morning of Feb. 22, Potts told Codi she would be "coming back tonight for sure."

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Potts was living in Edmonton with Codi before she moved to Enderby, B.C., where her boyfriend had moved a few months earlier. The two have been together on and off for about two years.

But Codi says he was abusive towards her and often her older sister would show up with bruises and in tears.

One time "she called me crying and she was hiding in the bathroom, saying he was outside and he was going to kick the door in."

He was arrested that night and Potts stayed in a women's shelter in Salmon Arm.

"She was fine there, going to school and had a job at Tim Hortons, until she went back to him a couple months later," Codi said.

That was at the beginning of February. At some point that month she left him again.

According to Codi, her sister had also texted her estranged boyfriend the day she went missing, saying she was upset with him over money he owed her.

And the unnerving clues don't end there.

Potts told friends that she was in Kelowna on Feb. 21. The next morning she messaged her roommate in Salmon Arm, saying she had met a stranger the night before and was now off to catch a ride to Calgary with someone she met off Kijiji.

Family takes search into its own hands

Earlier this month Potts' mother, Priscilla, contacted Indigenous groups in B.C .to help them conduct a search on their own, after losing faith in the RCMP's investigation. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip is one of the leaders who was called on to join in the search.

"The RCMP have not been conducting a vigorous and robust investigation and consequently there are far more questions than answers," said Stewart.

The RCMP received a missing persons report on March 1, but did not put out an official missing alert on its website until March 21st.

It reads, "the RCMP Major Crimes Unit is now assisting Vernon North Okanagan RCMP with the investigation of Potts."

The CBC did request more information via telephone and email from the RCMP but so far have only been provided with the press release on their web site. 

Codi and Priscilla travelled from Alberta to join the 50-strong search party to find Potts. They scoured the community going door to door and searching along the rivers and nearby roads.

The community is located along Highway 97, one of the arteries the RCMP names as a being part of the Highway of Tears.

"I used to tell her everything. She was so outgoing and bubbly and made everyone around her feel comfortable and happy. There is no one that can replace her," said Codi.

"if someone made her disappear, I can't understand how that could happen."

Caitlin Potts is described as approximately 5 feet three inches tall, 150 pounds with brown eyes and long black hair with blonde streaks. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Vernon RCMP at 250-545-7171 or anonymously via Crime Stoppers, at 1-888-222-8477.