Traci Genereaux, 18, was last seen around May 29, 2017.
Image Credit: Contributed
September 19, 2017 - 6:30 PM
VERNON - Traci Genereaux’s parents desperately want to find their little girl.
The 18-year-old hasn’t been seen in over three months, during which all her social media accounts went quiet.
“She would never not be in contact with me or her mom for, at the most, 48 hours. She’d always let us know where she was going, what she was doing,” her dad, Darcy Genereaux says.
Traci was supposed to pick up a telescope at her mom’s place on May 29, 2017 but disappeared.
“We were going to watch the stars,” Darcy says. “She never came back that night.”
The family found out through an acquaintance that Traci was last seen a couple days later speaking to someone in a white van near the bottle depot on 24 Avenue, Darcy says.
Traci has struggled with drug use in the past, but was doing much better, Darcy says. She hasn’t lived at home for about two years, instead choosing to “go out on her own”, but they always kept in touch, according to her father.
“She was couch surfing,” he says. “We’ve contacted every person she hung out with, any friends she’s ever had. No one has seen her.”
Police issued a missing person release in June and refreshed it again in July, but Darcy is frustrated that more appeals for information have not gone out.
“I know I’m not the only person with a missing daughter, but it shouldn’t just be posted once and is never heard of again. It needs to be out there more. This person is still out there somewhere,” Darcy says.
Traci Genereaux
Image Credit: Contributed
Because of her lifestyle, Darcy is concerned that police are not making her case a priority.
RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk insists that is absolutely not the case.
“We certainly sympathize with the frustration and the anguish that families and loved ones and friends of missing persons endure, and that lifestyles aside, missing persons are a very high priority,” Moskaluk says. “They’re not just a file that’s shelved…. What can be done is being done. We’re always looking at reviewing what more can be done and what’s next with the investigation.”
He encourages anyone with information to contact the Vernon RCMP, or their nearest police detachment.
“Anything and everything, big or small. Don’t think that someone must have called the police already,” Moskaluk says.
Darcy is asking people to share Traci’s picture far and wide, as he believes it is unlikely she is still in Vernon.
“If she was in Vernon I guarantee I would find her,” Darcy says, noting his daughter was always out and about. “You couldn’t go through Vernon without seeing her. You’d run into her. If she was here, somebody would’ve seen her.”
He says he’s not aware of any reason why she would want to run away, but says even if she didn’t want to come home, it’s unusual for her Facebook account to go silent.
“She lives on Facebook. She can’t handle not posting things. She hasn’t posted anything since before May 29,” he says.
Darcy says he still drives around looking for her every day and follows up on every message he receives about possible sightings of his daughter. He’s trying to stay positive and isn’t giving up hope.
“I’ve got to think she’s out there somewhere,” he says.
Traci is described as caucasian, 4’11”, 95lbs with brown hair and blue eyes. Her mother says she also has a large scar on her back from a car accident.
Anyone with information is asked to contact their nearest police service, or the Vernon RCMP at 250-545-7171. You can also leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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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News from © iNFOnews, 2017