Sask. family calls for more collaboration between police and families in missing persons cases

On the eighth anniversary of Happy Charles's disappearance, her family held a rally in front of the Prince Albert Police station, calling for changes to how cases like hers are handled.

Charles' stepfather Carson Poitras, who has been an advocate and voice for the family, said the rally was held Thursday to remind the police of a meeting they had in July 2024, when they were promised more would be done in regards to the investigation.

"We are trying to get them to listen to us and let them know that our daughter matters," said Carson. 

"She's a human, she's a mother, she's a loved one that we dearly missed and we need to bring her home and we need our file looked at more diligently because it's been eight long years."

Charles' last known location was in the Prince Albert Collegiate Institute/Kinsmen Park area, according to the Prince Albert Police Service.

The last time Charles was seen, according to a timestamp on a video released by police, was 11:50 p.m. on April 3, 2017.

The family is calling for change in the way missing persons cases are handled, and want to see more collaboration between the RCMP and city police. 

"My hope is to bring more awareness to the barriers that we face and also to get rid of those barriers and bring some of the missing people home," said Regina Poitras, the mother of Charles.

Carson is hoping the rally will build a stronger relationship with the police, for their family and other families who have a missing loved one. 

"We want to bring that back, where the families can feel comfortable talking to police, and be assured that the police are doing their job, and then they actually care," said Carson.

Carson said many tips have poured in regarding the disappearance of their daughter — so much that the family took it upon themselves to do their own investigation into some of the tips. 

"We are the investigators and we're not trained for that, and any tips that come in, we have to investigate those tips," he said.

"Once we do that, then we gotta refer them back to the police anyway because the police don't believe the information that we gathered. So it's frustrating."

Charles' mother Regina asked for anyone who knows anything about her daughter's disappearance to come forward, as "that tip might be the one we need to bring her home," she said. 

Carson hopes things change in the way police handle missing cases in the future, not just for their daughter but for all other MMIWG2S, and men. 

"It's a really frustrating ordeal that we've been going through, and we need to get that changed because we're not getting any younger," he said. 

In a statement to CBC, the Prince Albert Police Service said the investigation is ongoing. Police encourage anyone who might have information to call police at 306-953-4222 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.