(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)

Kamloops RCMP had 123 more reports of missing people in 2021 than it had the year before.

The increase in missing person reports means Kamloops RCMP recorded an average of roughly 68 files per month. That brings the total to 820 files opened just last year, but spokesperson Const. Crystal Evelyn said the vast majority of those files were closed within days.

While delivering a report to Kamloops city council yesterday, Supt. Syd Lecky said the increase in reports is exacerbated by the homeless population and the work required to find each person is "almost shocking."

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"(Missing person reports) can be quite exhaustive, and much of (the reports) are related to mental health... and just the general trend in homelessness," Lecky said. "And many of them aren't missing, it's just their loved ones can't find them."

In Kamloops, Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton combined, there were 2,263 missing person reports in 2021 — up from the 1,800 reports in the four cities in 2020, according to a Kamloops RCMP report to City council on March 15.

Kelowna RCMP dealt with even more reports of missing people than Kamloops, at 877 in 2021, a 20 file increase over the previous year.

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Vernon North Okanagan RCMP recorded 344 reports of missing people in 2021, which is an increase of 120 from the previous year. Penticton RCMP recorded an increase of 22 files to 222 in 2021.

Lecky said the "vast majority" of the missing reports his detachment deals with are from within the city of Kamloops, rather than from the surrounding region. On the other hand, Kelowna encompasses a larger region, rather than just the city itself.

"It just emphasizes how bad our scenario is here, compared to others," Lecky said.

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Of the 2,263 missing person reports between the four cities, it's not uncommon for a person to be reported missing more than once within the year. This makes specifying how many people were reported to be missing in 2021 a challenge. 

People that are still missing throughout the region can be found on the B.C. RCMP website. In Kamloops, that includes Shannon White, last seen in 2021, and Jason Redhead, last seen in 2020.

Beyond that, Ryan Shtuka, who went missing from Sun Peaks in 2018, is still listed on the RCMP website.

Public records for missing people are removed from the RCMP website once they are found, which is a standard practice for the police agency, Evelyn said.

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