Vigil remembers missing B.C. family 35 years after disappearance

It’s now been 35 years since an entire family seemingly vanished into thin air in northern B.C.

In 1989, Ronnie and Doreen Jack were living in Strathcona Avenue in Prince George, B.C., with their two sons, Russell and Ryan, who were nine and four years old at the time. 

On Aug. 2, Ronnie spoke to a man, at a pub near their home, who offered the couple jobs at a logging camp outside of the city. 

The family was expected to be gone for 10 days — but never returned.

Thirty-five years later, extended members of the Jack family and their supporters held a vigil at Strathcona Park, just a stone’s throw away from where they were last seen. 

Family members and friends shared hugs, tears, and memories of the loving parents and the two playful boys. But the same question hung on everyone’s lips: How could an entire family disappear without a trace? 

Patricia Prince is the Indigenous relations lead for United Way, and helped organize the vigil. 

“There hasn’t been enough coverage when it comes to the missing Jack family, and I think that needs to change,” she said. “We all need to work together and as a collective to help bring that bring the family home, so they have closure”

‘I’m not stopping’

Ronnie and Doreen Jack, who were both 26 when they disappeared, grew up on the south side of Burns Lake. They were both members of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation. 

Doreen’s sister, Marlene Jack, was 23 when her sister, brother-in-law and two nephews disappeared, and she has never given up trying to find answers. 

“I love my sister with all my heart. I miss her,” said Marlene. “I’m not giving up. I’m not stopping and I’m not going away. I’m gonna be here. If anyone has any information I’m here.”

In the decades since their disappearance RCMP have received several leads, but none have led them to the missing family. 

In the summer of 2019, the RCMP pursued a lead and conducted a three-day search on a section of the Saik’uz Nation’s territory south of Vanderhoof, but weren’t able to find any evidence of the missing family. 

A year later, advocates who run the Unidentified Human Remains Canada group created age-progressed photos of the young family showing what they may look like decades later. 

In June, Marlene, her daughter Bridget and volunteers held a community-led search in the Willow River area, east of Prince George, which also did not turn up any evidence.

While the Prince George RCMP declined to participate in the most recent search, B.C. Major Crimes Unit Staff Sgt. Ron Palta said the investigation is still active. 

“We’re appealing to the community and anyone with any information to come forward,” he said, adding while RCMP is dedicated to the case, more public awareness is needed. 

“It’s incredible that a whole family, and their vehicle, can disappear off the face of the earth,” the officer added.

Anyone with information about the Jack family’s disappearance is asked to call the Prince George RCMP or Crime Stoppers.