April Lee-Ann Parisian is still missing. Hope that she will ever be found alive has faded.

But her siblings 鈥� Laura, Chad, and Jeremy Hall 鈥� say they haven鈥檛 given up on finding and bringing her home.

鈥淎t this point we know she鈥檚 no longer with us,鈥� Chad said. 鈥淗er spirit is soaring around there somewhere. And at this point, we just need to continue our investigations and try to bring her home.

鈥淲e just want to bring her home, as much as we can.鈥�

Nearly four years have passed since Parisian, from Spuzzum First Nation was last seen on Silver Skagit Road in Hope. The last time her family heard from her was on April 5, 2020.

A huge search involving more than 100 volunteers and the Hope Volunteer Search and Rescue was quickly launched as it became clear she had diappeared. People, drones, and canine units scoured Boston Bar, Hope, Chilliwack, Princeton and spaces in between.

Despite their efforts, and the continued efforts of family who kept searching each day for months, her body was never recovered.

Parisian鈥檚 fiance, Paris Margesson, was found with her truck and camper on April 16, 2020, dying from what police believe was a self-inflicted wound. Despite the efforts of paramedics, he died.

Margesson lived in Spuzzum with Parisian. He had been engaged to her since Oct. 1, 2018 and was the first person to report her missing. Family members said they believe Margesson may have also been the only person who knew what happened to her.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said they believed Parisian may have met with foul play and were treating her disappearance as a 鈥渟uspicious missing persons investigation.鈥�

Recently, Parisian鈥檚 family thought they鈥檇 gotten the 鈥渂ig break in the case鈥� in the unfortunate news of a body. Remains of a Canadian had been found on the American side of Ross Lake on Oct. 12.

It was brought to their attention in the beginning of January through posts on the Search for April Facebook group. That post led Laura to a post by Chris Johnson on the PNW Fly Fishing Facebook group; while at the Ross Lake resort, his nephew had found human remains in a suitcase found in the lake. In that same post, Johnson said the remains were quickly reported to the resort鈥檚 office and on Oct. 13 the body was retrieved by the authorities.

According to Laura, the Canadian side of Ross Lake was one of the few places not searched by volunteers. After some back-and-forth, Laura said she was able to able to get a hold of the RCMP team now in charge of April鈥檚 case and waited for confirmation that her sister had been found.

Unfortunately, hopes were dashed Jan. 16 when RCMP informed them the body did not belong to their sister.

鈥淏elieve us when we say, any body that鈥檚 found anywhere in the lower portion of B.C., it鈥檚 almost like we get our hopes up because we don鈥檛 have our sister,鈥� Laura said. 鈥淎nd when it鈥檚 not, my heart just drops.

鈥淪he鈥檚 out there somewhere. And we don鈥檛 know.鈥�

Described as someone with a huge heart and a great love for the outdoors, Parisian was well-known and, according to her sister, greatly loved by her communities. She had a fondness for hunting and loved her dog dearly, a dog Jeremy said she would have never left behind.

Her disappearance has brought a daily void in her sibling鈥檚 lives they say can only be righted once their sister is found.

鈥淭hat kind of feeling is always just there,鈥� Jeremy said. 鈥淎nd deflated as it gets when you get your hopes up, and then all of a sudden its not the way it panned out to be, closure is all you can hope for right now.鈥�

Parisian 鈥� who has a different mother 鈥� didn鈥檛 grow up with her siblings, who are from Quwutsun (Cowichan) First Nation. In fact, despite Parisian having attended the same high school as Laura, the siblings didn鈥檛 know of each other鈥檚 existence until 15 years ago when Parisian reached out.

Upon learning about her, Parisian鈥檚 siblings said, they immediately wanted to meet their sister and have her in their lives.

鈥淭here was nothing more than we wanted then to build a relationship with her,鈥� Laura said. 鈥淎nd that was robbed. I feel robbed.鈥�

Though their time with their sister wasn鈥檛 as long as they would have liked, Parisian鈥檚 siblings loved her and still love her dearly. It is this love, according to Parisian鈥檚 family, along with the support of their family and friends that has given them the strength to continue searching.

Their next step, Laura said, is to re-examine the timeline leading to her disappearance for overlooked clues, re-search areas, and find new areas to search. The timeline details the events leading up to and then after her disappearance and Laura said looking over it might help in finding clues they might have missed before.

Anyone interested in helping can visit , or join the Search for April Facebook group.

鈥淚 am super grateful for all the followers we have for Search for April as it made us feel supported,鈥� said Deedee Eashappie, Parisian鈥檚 cousin. 鈥淎nd it comforts us that she still has an impact on people even though she hasn鈥檛 been found yet.

鈥淲e love the fact that people are still aware of her disappearance and keep looking for her because she is still out there somewhere. Never forgotten and we are always looking till we can bring her home to rest.鈥�

Chad said he also wants more awareness raised about domestic violence and more support given to victims and survivors.

鈥淔or April, all the signs were there when she posted a couple times about her relationship on Facebook Live,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here was something about domestic violence and verbal abuse. And then she would immediately take it down when she was sober and stuff like that.

鈥淚f you see the signs or have a gut feeling, act on them.鈥�

And as much as they don鈥檛 want Parisian鈥檚 story to end with their worst suspicions confirmed, they said that would still be better than having her remain away from the people and communities who love her.

鈥淚 constantly find myself looking for signs, like clothing, you name it,鈥� Chad said. 鈥淚 always got my eyes peeled and it鈥檚 always very much in my forefront.

鈥淚 just want to bring her home to give her the proper resting she deserves.鈥�

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kemone.moodley@hopestandard.com
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