In 2002, She Went Out One Night To Celebrate Her Friend’s Birthday, And Before She Vanished, She Sent Her Friend A Chilling Text
In 2002, Lisa Marie Young was just 21-years-old, a member of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, and had big dreams of pursuing television sports broadcasting.
But, after she attended a friend’s birthday, Lisa vanished from Nanaimo, British Columbia, and has never been seen again.
It all began on June 29, 2002, when the 21-year-old went out to celebrate her friend Dallas’s birthday. Lisa, Dallas, and other friends first traveled to a club that evening.
But, not long afterward, their plans changed. While at the club, a stranger named Christopher introduced himself, joined the friend group’s celebration, and invited everyone to go to a house party instead.
The group obliged, traveling from one house party to the next in Christopher’s maroon Jaguar and staying out until the early Sunday morning hours.
At one point, though, Lisa began to get hungry. And since she was a lifelong vegetarian, there were not many food options at the parties.
This pushed Lisa to call it a night– opting to get food and go home. Christopher then offered to bring her to a nearby sandwich restaurant that was still open.
So, the pair went together in the red Jaguar, which belonged to Christopher’s grandmother– a businesswoman and the wife of a mayor and politician.
By about 4:30 a.m., though, something had gone wrong. At that time, Lisa began sending distressed text messages to her friend, Dallas.
Facebook – pictured above is Lisa
“Come get me; they won’t let me leave,” one text read, according to The Toronto Star.
“Dallas, I don’t know what’s going on. This guy won’t bring me back. We’re sitting in a driveway on Bowen road, and he won’t bring me back… I’m bored. I’m getting [annoyed],” another text read, according to CHEK News.
Then, come the morning, Lisa had disappeared. Christopher was unofficially considered a person of interest, and authorities did suspect foul play. Although, the 21-year-old’s body or cell phone were never located.
Christopher’s grandmother also reportedly sold the maroon Jaguar.
The Search For Lisa
Prior to June 29, 2002, Lisa had plans to move. She had recently obtained a new job at a call center and, in the long term, hoped to go back to school for broadcasting.
After Lisa did not respond to any calls from her parents, Marlene “JoAnne” Martin Young and Don Young, they became concerned. Lisa’s former roommate also visited JoAnne and Don’s home, searching for the 21-year-old.
At that point, JoAnne began phoning around the community. It came to light that no one had heard from or seen Lisa since the prior evening.
This pushed the 21-year-old’s parents to contact the police. But, authorities claimed there needed to be a 48-hour period before Lisa could be reported missing since she was an adult.
JoAnne and Don reportedly begged authorities to take action, though. And afterward, a police officer was sent to their home.
Unfortunately, this still did not make a difference. The officer allegedly told Lisa’s parents that he was off of work for the next four days. So, he claimed the investigation would pick up once he returned to work.
Lisa’s parents were frustrated by this and decided to contact local news outlets in hopes of sparking awareness. Although, JoAnne tried to avoid the cameras, fearing how the public would perceive her daughter.
“You couldn’t tell by looking at her that she was First Nations, and I didn’t want people to know that and judge her… to discriminate against her because of that,” JoAnne told Ha-Shilth-Sa.
Yet according to Lisa’s aunt, Carol, this effort still did not make a difference.
“It took them two months before [the police] would do a search for Lisa. It was our Tla-o-qui-aht men that came right away, organized and with tips, did searches in different areas,” Carol said.
Eventually, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) Serious Crime Unit did take on Lisa’s case.
Over the past few years, searches at undisclosed sites in Nanaimo using ground-penetrating radar and K9s have been conducted.
The investigation into the 21-year-old’s disappearance has also grown to contain information from hundreds of witnesses and approximately 15,000 documents.
Despite intel pouring in from community members, though, no tips have led to a crack in Lisa’s case.
The Nanaimo community has continued to rally around Lisa’s family– who began conducting annual walks and candlelight vigils following the young woman’s disappearance.
In 2017, though, these events paused after JoAnne Young began experiencing deteriorating health. She ultimately suffered from hypertension, received dialysis, and needed a kidney transplant.
But, after never receiving the new organ, JoAnne sadly passed away in 2017 at 54-years-old. She never received any closure in her daughter’s case.
“JoAnne was the one that kept Lisa in the media’s attention because she didn’t want anybody to forget her. It’s just important for our family to have some kind of closure,” Lisa’s aunt, Carol Frank, said.
“My sister passed away on June 21, 2017, and she never got to find her only daughter.”
Following JoAnne’s passing, the Walk of Love and Hope for Lisa was reinstated. From then on, though, this event also simultaneously honored JoAnne’s memory and the love of her daughter.
Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog took steps to further keep Lisa’s memory alive as well. In 2022, he declared that June 28 would be “Justice for Lisa Marie Young Day.”
Similarly, June 30 was declared “Lights on for Lisa Day,” urging residents to leave their porch lights and honor the missing 21-year-old.
“I am a parent and grandparent, and I cannot begin to imagine what it must have been like for Lisa’s family when she went missing, and after all these years, no justice, no knowledge, no closure,” Mayor Krog said on June 26, 2022, during the annual Walk of Love and Hope for Lisa.
“There is no greater love, I believe, than the love that exists between a parent and a child… and I cannot begin to imagine all of those years when [Lisa’s] mother survived and lived to think about her daughter and what may have happened to her.”
Last year, an anonymous donor also came forward and offered a $50,000 USD reward to anyone who can lead investigators to Lisa’s remains.
Carol did speak with the donor and decided that the reward money would only be for the location of the 21-year-old’s remains– not just information.
“It’s sad we have to come to this, you know, to offer money. But if it helps in the end, then that’s all we want, to bring Lisa home,” Carol told Vancouver Island Free Daily.
“It’s always been our main goal over all the years, even before justice is done… to bring Lisa home, give her a proper burial. Somebody just threw her away like trash, and she wasn’t.”
According to Corporal Markus Muntener of Nanaimo RCMP’s Serious Crimes Unit, the reward offer may attract new information to the case.
“Which would benefit the investigation, obviously, and at the same time help the family get some closure if her remains are located,” Cpl. Mutener explained.
In the meantime, Lisa’s loved ones have continued spreading awareness beyond the Nanaimo community– updating the Facebook group “Lisa Marie Young” regularly.
At the time of her disappearance, Lisa was five foot four, weighed 115 pounds, and had brown hair and brown eyes. She is Indigenous, and on her right arm has a tattoo of a band of flowers with a heart in the middle.
If you have any information regarding Lisa’s case, you are urged to contact the Nanaimo RCMP at (250) 754-2345.
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