Caitlin Brandy Potts

Image Credit: Contributed

NORTH OKANAGAN - More than a year after her daughter went missing from the North Okanagan, Priscilla Potts is begging anyone with information about the 27-year-old’s suspected murder to speak up.

Caitlin Potts disappeared in February 2016. Police made several calls for tips in the months after she went missing, but last week an appeal for information came with the words ‘murder of Caitlin Potts.’

“It’s been really hard,” Priscilla says. “We are still waiting for answers.”

Caitlin’s body hasn't been found. She was living in Enderby around the time of her disappearance, but also had connections to Kelowna, West Kelowna, Armstrong and Salmon Arm.

Police put out previously unreleased video surveillance footage on April 26 showing Caitlin leaving the Orchard Park Mall in Kelowna the day before she was last heard from. The purpose, police said, was to give the public a visual reminder of Caitlin’s appearance and what she may have been wearing near the time of her disappearance. The news release asks anyone with information on Caitlin’s murder to contact police or Crime Stoppers.

Caitlin Potts is seen here entering Orchard Park Mall on Feb. 21, 2016.

Image Credit: RCMP handout

Still desperate for answers after 14 agonizing months, Priscilla hopes that whoever knows what happened to Caitlin will come forward.

“I don’t know how (the person responsible) can sleep at night. If I knew something or did something, I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself,” she says.

Caitlin was living with her boyfriend in Enderby at the time, but told her sister she was leaving him and coming back to Calgary. Family say he was abusive.

On Feb. 21, 2016, Caitlin was seen entering Orchard Park Mall in Kelowna. According to her family, she’d made arrangements for a ride-share to Calgary, but her boyfriend came and begged her to stay. Her mother believes that’s who she was last with before she vanished. 

Police say reports that Caitlin was travelling to Calgary have not been substantiated and they do not believe she left the Okanagan before her death.

Caitlin was last heard from on Feb. 22 and reported missing on March 1.

“I’m hoping she’s out there but even though she’s been angry with family in the past, she wouldn’t go this long without contact,” Priscilla says.

Priscilla says police have called her about half a dozen times to update her and let her know the investigation remains active, but to date there have been no arrests.

“I don’t think they (police) are trying hard enough. I don’t know why it’s taking so long,” she says. “If they were in my position I think it would be done differently.”

In an interview April 26, RCMP spokesperson Staff Sgt. Annie Linteau would not say if police have any murder suspects.

A community search was held last summer in Enderby to look for Caitlin, and Priscilla hopes to have another one.

“I keep praying and waiting for an answer,” she says. “I know they’re coming and I believe there will be answers.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact their local police detachment or Crime Stoppers at 1-877-222-8477.

FILE PHOTO: Caitlin's mother Priscilla Potts at a community-led search party in summer 2016.

(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)

Two other women went missing around the same time in the same area. Ashley Simpson went missing from Yankee Flats Road near Enderby a few months after Potts disappeared. A few months after Simpson, North Okanagan woman Deanna Wertz also disappeared from Yankee Flats Road. Neither have been found and the investigations remain ongoing.

Police say there is no evidence to suggest the three missing women cases are connected.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston or call 250-309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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