“It’s been horrific”: Family of woman missing in Nicola Valley area joins search and rescue effort

MERRITT — It’s been a week since Jacqueline McDermott was reported missing in the Nicola Valley and her family is now in what could be described as an ‘unimaginable situation’.

“People keep saying that to us and I say, ‘Well, you can imagine it, but then you can stop imagining it when it starts to hurt too much.’ And we can’t stop,” explains Jacqueline’s mother Nathalie St-Maurice. “That’s the reality of this hell that we’re in right now.”

“It’s been horrific, is all I will say,” adds Leigh McDermott, Jacqueline’s father.

Last Friday (Sept. 30), Jacqueline, who also goes by Jaqui, had planned to attend a meditation retreat near Merritt. Her parents say she did make it to the retreat, but left after a short while. The next day, her vehicle was found broken down, believed to have run out of fuel, along Highway 97C between Merritt and Logan Lake.

“We don’t know exactly what happened but she left the retreat and after that was spotted a few times on the Friday (Sept. 30) in the area,” says St-Maurice. “She was spotted on Saturday morning (Oct. 1) in the area, and then after that, just her van was spotted on the side of the road, but haven’t seen her since then.”

Friday (Oct. 7), Jaqui’s family joined Mounties and SAR teams from around the region to continue the search effort in the Mamit Lake area. Her father notes that the family is grateful for the work put toward the search by RCMP investigative teams, search and rescue groups, and volunteers.

McDermott’s family speak with RCMP during a search effort on Friday (Oct. 7) in the Nicola Valley area. (Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today)

“There’s a huge amount of interest and energy in trying to help find Jacqui and I think the key thing is really the smallest of details are really important, so sharing those,” notes McDermott.

Loved ones have been urging people to keep an eye out for the 22-year-old, who is described by her family as a vibrant young person who had set out in her van across Canada this past summer before arriving in B.C. McDermott is from the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario.

“Everybody loves her. She’s got tree-planting friends who have come down to help, she’s got skateboarding friends, she’s got animal activist friends,” explains St-Maurice. “She’s got such a community and so many people that care about her and nobody can quite understand what’s happened here.”

People who think may have information are told to contact police directly, rather than only comment potentially useful tips on social media posts. A key message Jacqui’s parents have — if you’ve seen something, say something.

“And if you see her — now — call 9-1-1. If you think you remember something that you saw, call the RCMP with tips,” notes St-Maurice. “Somebody has seen something and they haven’t figured it out yet or they haven’t realized that they’ve seen something important and that’s what we need. We need to know everything that someone might know.”

Jacqueline McDermott is described as follows:

• White
• 5’7″ tall
• 111 lbs
• Curly blonde hair
• Fair complexion
• Medium build
• Nose piercing

Anyone with information related to McDermott’s whereabouts is asked to contact Merritt RCMP at (250) 378-4262.

Various online pages have been set up to provide updates on the search and renew calls for information. Click here to access the Facebook page set up by family, Instagram account, and GoFundMe page.