Mother in 20-year cold case seeks answers

Jackie White is still seeking answers to her daughter's disappearance, 20 years after she went missing.

(JESSICA WALLACE / iNFOnews.ca)

September 12, 2013 - 12:50 PM

"SOMEONE HAS TO KNOW."

KAMLOOPS - The mother of a Kamloops woman missing for 20 years is pleading with the public to come forward with any information that could put the cold case to rest.

"I love my daughter, and I want answers," said Jackie White today at a press conference at the Kamloops RCMP detachment. "I want to put my daughter to rest."

Sherri McLaughlin went missing in North Kamloops in 1993 and the mystery of her disappearance has never been solved.

She was biking to her ex-boyfriends house around 3 a.m. on Sept. 19, 1993 but never arrived.

McLaughlin's backpack and damaged bicycle were found on Parkcrest Avenue, where a sign seeking tips now remains. Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Cheryl Bush said a vehicle that hit her bike was identified but could not provide the make and model to media.

Daniel Robert Dow, a convicted dangerous offender in jail indefinitely, is suspected of being responsible for McLaughlin's disappearance, however he never admitted to it and has not co-operated with police.

White said she is reminded regularly of her 20-year-old daughter; she stops and leaves flowers on Parkcrest on the anniversary of her disappearance, quickly approaching for the 20th time this year.

"I go by there every day," she said. "I've looked and I've thought many, many different ways my daughter disappeared."

She believes someone would have seen something the night of her disappearance and is asking anyone with information to come forward.

"Someone has to know," she said.

Bush said police also believe someone may have information relevant to the case.

Police continue to work the investigation and hope to jar memories from anyone who may have seen something. Bush said police will follow-up on any new information and continue working on old information as the years roll by.

"The evidence attached to the case is reviewed periodically to see if new forensic techniques can be applied," Bush said. "Police want to bring closure to Sherri's family."

To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.