Songhees Nation has issued a statement saying it trusts that those involved in the disappearance and death of a man whose body was recently located on reserve lands will be punished.
“This is not the outcome anyone hoped for, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family,” the chief and council of the 670-member Songhees Nation said, after the discovery of the remains of Kielan Hall, 23, who had been missing for more than a year.
“We trust that all those responsible for the crimes committed will be brought to justice.”
The nation asked media not to contact members or “attempt to gather information on our lands.”
On Tuesday and Wednesday, staffed checkpoints were erected at both ends of Cooper Road — off Craigflower Road and off Admirals Road — leading into and out of the Songhees Nation to keep unwelcome visitors out.
The Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit is investigating after the remains were located in a leased home on Middle Road in a mobile home park on the Songhees Reserve lands and identified as Hall, who hadn’t been seen since March of last year.
The discovery was made during a search related to drug trafficking.
West Shore RCMP and Hall’s father, Sheldon Hall, who had set up a Facebook page called Finding Kielan Hall, confirmed the remains were Hall.
Many residents of Esquimalt, View Royal and Saanich came to know of Hall through multiple missing-person posters in the area and Sheldon Hall’s Facebook page.
Hall posted on the page that his son was dropped off by his mother at a friend’s house on March 13, 2024, and was captured on video at 11 p.m. that night at the Sticky Wicket bar and restaurant in the Strathcona Hotel on Douglas Street in Victoria.
Hall was then at a residence off Cooper Road, which stretches between Admirals Road and Craigflower Road on the Songhees Reserve lands, in the early morning.
Mother Lori Hall has said her son sent a Snapchat message to a friend. “He was in a living room or bedroom and did not look well,” she said, worried about possible drug use.
His father said that his son’s phone then “went silent, no social media, nothing.”
His mother called and texted everyone with whom her son was in contact. A missing person report was filed with police in Saanich, where his father lives. He was described as six feet tall and 180 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair, wearing a light-coloured hoodie and grey sweat pants and black ball cap.
Just days into the search, Saanich Insp. Damian Kowalewich said its major crime detectives and other agencies were on the file, noting Kielan’s behaviour was determined to be “out of character for him.”
Sheldon Hall had posted that Kielan “always contacted his mom, by text or call, just to say ‘Hi, I am safe,’ and ‘Here I am or going to be.’”
Family members pleaded for people with information to contact police or Crime Stoppers, confident there were individuals in the community who knew what happened and had chosen “to stay silent.”
Sheldon Hall maintained hope that his son would turn up safe, but called the emotional toll of not knowing what happened to him “unbearable.” “It is like a nightmare that never ends,” he wrote. “The feelings of helplessness, loss, anger, and sadness is ongoing.”
As an administrator of the Finding Kielan page, he blocked those posting rumours, expressed sadness as apparent sightings turned out not to be Hall, and lashed out at those sending police false tips.
“What you don’t understand, (obviously) is his mom and I are living a parent’s greatest fear,” wrote Sheldon. “Maybe when and if you have children on your own you will understand.”
That fear turned to reality this week as Sheldon Hall posted that his son’s remains had been found.
Laurie Adsett was one of more than 500 people who offered condolences and posted fond memories of Hall, and expressions of horror and heartbreak.
“May we all remember him as the amazingly kind hearted human being he will always be with the smile that would melt your heart,” Adsett wrote.
Terrill Sigurdson, who is organizing a gofundme page, called Kielan a beautiful soul — “kind, warm-hearted, and full of life.”
She recalled his “genuine spirit,” adding that “he once gave the shoes off of his feet to a homeless man because he didn’t have any.”
Anyone with information related to the investigation is asked to contact the major crime unit via its information line at 250-380-6211.
