Abby Connolly
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.
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