She Disappeared While Hitchhiking In Prince George 21 Years Ago, And She Was Last Seen At A Gas Station
Nicole Hoar was a creative young woman who had a passion for nature and loved her family. In June of 2002, she planned to hitchhike her way from Prince George, British Columbia, to a town called Smithers to surprise her sister and take her to a music festival. Tragically, she never made it there, and no one has seen her since.
Nicole was 25-years-old at the time and had a job planting trees for the Celtic Reforestation Services in Prince George, British Columbia, after graduating from Novia Scotia College of Art and Design in 2001.
Nicole was an artist and loved spending time outdoors. Her ultimate goal was to save enough money to move to the United States and work at a ceramic school.
Nicole was also a free spirit and loved to get around by hitchhiking. Although her friends and family sometimes advised her against it, Nicole had lots of hitchhiking experience.
On June 21st, 2002, Nicole had three of her coworkers drop her off at the Mohawk Gas Station (now a Shell station) off of Highway 16 so she could hitchhike her way to the town of Smithers. She had plans to surprise her sister and attend the 19th annual Smithers Midsummer Music Festival with her from June 21st to June 23rd.
Allegedly, her three coworkers advised her not to hitchhike, but Nicole was determined to do so and claimed she would instinctually avoid getting in a car with any suspicious drivers. Because the gas station was so often flooded with hitchhikers, nothing seemed out of the ordinary that day.
Nicole exited her coworker’s car around 2:50 p.m., and as they drove away, it would be the last time they saw her.
The following work day, Nicole’s coworkers knew something was wrong when she didn’t show up to work, as they claimed she hardly ever missed work without notifying someone.
On July 3rd, 2002, Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers arrived at Celtic Reforestation Services and informed them that Nicole was officially missing.
Ryan – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
After news of Nicole’s disappearance broke, employees at a Pharmasave in Smithers told police they had allegedly seen and served Nicole on June 22nd, 2002. One of the employees claimed she had spoken to Nicole, who was very friendly and buying a toothbrush from the store.
While the employees were convinced they had spoken to Nicole, investigators working on her case could not confirm the sighting and were skeptical of their story, considering the last transaction in Nicole’s bank account was on June 21st, 2002, the day she disappeared.
That September, someone informed the police they allegedly saw a woman who matched Nicole’s description briefly speak to a man in an orange-yellow colored car that could’ve been a Dodge Colt, Toyota Tercel, or Volkswagen. The informant claimed she spoke to the driver but did not see her get in the car. However, police believe she may have entered the vehicle and consider the driver a suspect.
Since her disappearance, no one who may have given Nicole a ride the day she went missing has contacted the police.
Police have struggled to find any physical evidence of Nicole, but they have received hundreds of tips from people who claimed to have seen her in the last 21 years. Unfortunately, none of them have led to anything.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police hoped they might find something related to Nicole’s disappearance when they created a task force in 2005 to begin investigating the disappearances and murders of women around highways 5, 16, and 97 in British Columbia between 1969 and 2006.
In 2009, they investigated the home of Leland Vincent Switzer, a man who owned property near the gas station where Nicole was dropped off. He had killed his brother just two days after she went missing, but police found no remains on the property, and he was eventually granted parole in 2016.
While other disappearance cases may have taken Nicole’s case out of the spotlight, it is still considered unsolved, and people are still searching for her over two decades later.
On the day Nicole disappeared, she wore a long-sleeved red shirt with the number 13, beige capri pants, Teva sandals, and wire-rimmed glasses. She was also carrying her black and purple backpack and a green shoulder bag.
If you have any information regarding her case, you are urged to contact the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at 613-993-7267.
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