'It's been a lot of heartache': Sisters of Lennox Island man still searching for answers

Kelly Sark and Val Jadis were getting ready to have cake with their family when they heard the latest news. 

This was last Monday, on what would have been their brother Jamie Sark's 29th birthday. 

Sark's body was found Nov. 12 in a heavily wooded area on Lennox Island First Nation. He had been missing from his home in the community since late August. 

Kelly Sark said just as her family was getting ready to cut the cake in her brother's memory, they learned that RCMP officers investigating his case were conducting searches at two Lennox Island properties. 

In the family's first major interview since the young man's remains were found, Sark said the news about the searches felt like a step forward. 

"Everything happened all of a sudden. It was kind of, like, bittersweet, but it was good to see things start to happen," she told CBC News. 

Search for answers continues

For Jadis, last week's development in this case brought a sense of hope after months of heartache for her family — hope that the investigation is moving forward and getting closer to finding out about what happened to Jamie.

"It's been a lot of heartache since Jamie went missing, since my mom put out the post that he wasn't around," she said. "So we started looking, like messaging him and everything — and I don't know. You just get this gut feeling that something is really wrong." 

After their brother vanished, Sark and Jadis spent countless days searching for him. That search began within the community of Lennox Island and circled out to the surrounding woods and fields before eventually expanding to Nova Scotia. The family also offered a $5,000 reward for information.

Jadis said she's grateful to everyone in the community who came out to help with the search.

"We had a solid crew with us every time we wanted to go to the woods. We had strangers help us make posters and put those up," she said. 

Sark said it was good to see support from communities outside P.E.I., specifically from the Membertou First Nation and Membertou Men's Society, a support group for Indigenous men, which also posted information about Jamie in the hope of locating him. 

"We hit the ground running," Sark said. "As soon as we knew something was up, we were in the woods. We were searching the woods solid for three, four months every other day, just going, running off fumes, non-stop." 

Jadis said that during the first few weeks of their search, the group did scan the area where Jamie's body was eventually found, so they were surprised when police shared that location. 

"We were very close multiple times. It's crazy how we didn't find him," Sark said. 

Regarding the search, Sark said she thinks some things could have been done differently, and certain areas should have been checked more thoroughly — but still, she feels fortunate that her brother was found, and they could bring him home. 

'My little light'

As they started thinking back to a time before Jamie went missing, Sark and Jadis shared smiles and laughed. 

"Jamie was my little brother, my little light," Jadis said. "He was a good young man. He always strived to be better, to do better. He was trying to find the right path in life." 

She said he was trying to get into rehab before he went missing, and was always looking to learn new skills, taking a number of courses to get different certifications. She said he was also getting into making traditional baskets.

Jadis said Jamie took care of his family no matter what. He'd take the shirt off his shoulders and give it to you if you needed it, Sark added.

One of Sark's favourite memories involves pictures of Jamie taking a first-aid course. She laughs as she describes the image of him wrapped in bandages, allowing someone to practise on him. 

"He was really goofy," Sark said. "I don't think I'll get those belly laughs with anyone else, besides my sister." 

Sark and Jadis say these positive memories, and the support of the rest of their family, have allowed them to carry on and continue their search for answers. 

"You've got to keep thinking positive, because if you don't, like I said, it comes in waves — and then you start thinking too much and it just hurts so much," Sark said. 

"I still can't believe we're going through this," Jadis added. 

Investigation ongoing

Sark said the most frustrating part of this experience is waiting for answers. She said she and her family follow up with the RCMP every other week in search of updates, but so far details have been few and far between.

"There's a lot of injustice for people who go missing," Sark said. "Some people kind of get forgotten through social media and news outlets and stuff like that. I think that's what drove me and my sister and my family to keep speaking about Jamie."

While the RCMP investigation goes on, the family is still looking for any tips or information about what happened to Jamie Sark. 

Sark said when Jamie's body was found, some of his personal items were missing. She is asking anyone with information about where those items might be to come forward. 

"I want to say thank you for all the people in P.E.I., on Turtle Island, even the states, were out looking and helping and sharing his info," Sark said. "Thank you so much for helping us this far, and that we still need more prayers because we're not done yet." 

RCMP told CBC News on Monday that there are no further developments to report in the investigation following the search of the two Lennox Island properties last week. 

No arrests have been made in the case, but Jamie Sark's sisters say they have been told polygraph tests have been administered. 

The force held a series of drop-in sessions on the First Nation last November and December so that anyone could volunteer information about Sark's disappearance and death. 

Police urge anyone with something to share to contact CrimeStoppers or the RCMP in East Prince at 902-436-9300.