Missing Brackendale teenager Jodi Henrickson’s family and friends are rallying today as a show of support, and as a plea to anyone with information to come forward.
“Tomorrow will mark the 14th day Jodi’s been missing – since she was last seen,” said Jodi’s cousin and family spokesperson Crystal Henrickson on Thursday (July 2).
“We just think the rally will be a powerful way for all of us to come together.”
From 5 to 8 p.m. Friday (July 3), crowds will gather at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal with missing posters bearing a photo of 17-year-old Jodi in hand. The time and place were chosen to coincide with Jodi’s passage to Bowen Island two weeks ago.
“We
’re hoping that we’ll be able to talk to people who might’ve been on that ferry with her who might know something as they’re heading home or away for the weekend,” said Crystal, adding “everybody who wants to come out is totally welcome to come and support.”
Jodi was reported missing Wednesday, June 24, and was last seen June 20 between 4 and 6 a.m. after bouncing between two Bowen Island house parties with friends.
“There was lots of foot traffic between the two parties [which were] a fair distance apart,” said RCMP Cpl. Dave Ritchie. “They were in the dispersal stage going different directions, and she was with people we’ve identified and spoken to that she was last seen with.”
Ex-boyfriend speaks out
Media outlets reported this week that police filed a “no contact” order against Jodi’s ex-boyfriend, Gavin Arnott, after he was given a conditional discharge for assaulting Jodi in an incident stemming from April 8.
A resident of Squamish and Bowen Island, 20-year-old Arnott spoke to media shortly after the reports, saying he was at the Bowen Island parties and he may have been the last person to see Jodi.
He told The Province newspaper they walked toward his father’s Bowen Island home at 5:30 a.m., speaking tensely, and he walked off. She hasn’t been seen since. He said the situation puts him “a really bad spot.”
Ritchie confirmed that Jodi’s ex-boyfriend had a no contact order, and that he was interviewed with no charges laid. However Ritchie would not confirm his identity.
Help needed for search efforts
Meanwhile, friends and family have mobilized in their efforts by placing missing posters from Squamish and Bowen Island to as far away as the Okanagan. Friends also created the Facebook group “Let's find Jodi Henrickson!!”
As of Thursday, the group has 909 members have joined and 104 of messages have been posted offering support. But, said Crystal, not all messages have been positive, which is another reason for the gathering.
“Online support its’ fantastic, for the most part,” said Crystal. “There’s a few people who are not very supportive at all. There’s been some negative information in the press and on her Facebook group, and we want to show that we just all really care.”
Another way people can support efforts to gather information would be to print out a missing poster and place it on their vehicles as a “walking billboard,” said Crystal.
She is also appealing to parents of anyone who may have been at the party of anyone associated with the individuals at the party to come forward if they haven’t yet done so.
“Just asking as many questions as possible to help generate leads from people who were at that party or who haven’t spoken to the police yet [because] they’re afraid to talk to the police – they can remain anonymous. Any of that information could be important, we don’t know.”
No plans to cease search
Ritchie said investigators have not indicated they would call off the search.
"There’s no talk of giving up or scaling back," said Ritchie. "The searches are going as information is received so nothing is slowing down in the investigation at this point, we’re still focusing on Bowen Island."
RCMP members continue to concentrate their search efforts on Bowen Island, said Ritchie.
“We’re still concentrating that Jodi…hasn’t left the island,” he said. “We’re pretty satisfied that…she didn’t utilize the ferries. But she could’ve because the foot traffic is very well video’d, but the vehicle traffic – you can get on without being identified in a vehicle, so we’re still going through tapes and videos with BC Ferries.
“But there’s all sort of other means marine avenues of getting off the island as well and we don’t know that she hasn’t done that. But if she has, why hasn’t she contacted someone? That’s totally out of character. We feel that if she did get off the island she would’ve had some contact with someone.”
Since June 25, RCMP has undertaken air searches, and North Shore Search and Rescue along with tracking dogs joined in for marine and ground searches.
Police have also conducted extensive interviews, but they’re having to sort through second hand stories and innuendo, said Ritchie.
“Because it’s a small community they kind of band together and discussed it prior to any of us being involved, so we’re asking them to be individuals and come forward with what they know and what they can identify as seeing themselves as opposed to what people have told them,” he said.
“So we’re just trying to sort through and sift through all the stories, all the ‘What ifs?’ and innuendos and try to get to the facts and determine where Jodi is if we can.”
Media reports stating that some Bowen Island residents have been uncooperative were false, said Ritchie. He said that rumour was generated by a bar owner who said locals wouldn’t cooperate because police broke up a house party three weeks ago.
“The negativity that came out somewhat hampered us,” he said. “[There’s been] great co-operation from residents, from people on Bowen Island who weren’t at the party and all participants and acquaintances at the party.”
Henrikson was last seen wearing a black leather jacket, black long sleeve shirt, and blue jeans. Anyone with information is asked to call the RCMP tip line at 604 957-0516 or anonymously at the Crimestoppers hotline, 1-800-222-TIPS.
