Walking the last known steps of their missing daughter 鈥� on the seventh anniversary of her disappearance 鈥� has not gotten easier for the Ward family.
"It's the hardest walk for me to do, because it's her last steps, her last sighting," said LeeAnne Ward, the mother of Kristina Ward, who was last seen in Surrey seven years ago today, Sept. 27.
First reported missing on Sept. 25, 2017, Kristina was last seen in surveillance footage in the area of 144 Street and 104 Avenue, on the night of Sept. 27.
She was seen in the video with a man who was pushing a bicycle. Kristina was 20 years old at the time of her disappearance and was from Abbotsford and frequented 91原创 City.
She was described at that time as standing five feet and five inches in height and weighing 130 pounds, and had curly brown hair and brown eyes.
Each year since Kristina went missing, her family and friends take the same steps that Kristina took that night in hopes of sparking memory for members of the public once again.
"Unfortunately when kids go missing, the awareness stops and people forget about that person. We don't want that to happen to our daughter, or anybody's daughter. It's just not right what happened to her," father Art Ward said to reporters after the walk.
The day also comes just ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, underlining the importance of highlighting the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis, as Kristina is First Nations.
"In light of Monday being National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, it's a stark reminder that every child matters. Kristina matters," said Katie Pearson, who joined the Ward family on the awareness walk.
"Giving this family the closure they deserve would be a blessing for the entire Indigenous community," added Pearson, who is from the sh铆sh谩lh Nation.
"Our people are resilient. We've been through so much; residential schools, colonization and these things are still happening to our women, our children, our men and we're looking towards the future... we're breaking intergenerational curses and trauma every day."
Not having their "fun, loving" daughter in their lives any longer is a feeling LeeAnne said is "indescribable."
"I'm not giving up on the search... someone somewhere knows something about Kristina," she added.
"We need answers about where she is... missing and murdered Indigenous women is an epidemic."
Also joining in the walk were officers from 91原创 RCMP, who are still investigating where Kristina could be.
"Thankfully these walks every year stir up some memory in people and we get more (tips) and we follow them up... So far, we haven't been able to confirm things that have happened and occurred here since she was last seen," said Corp. Craig Van Herk.
"This is one of those frustrating investigations because we need more. We've chased leads, we've followed up on evidence, we've followed up with interviews and so on...
"There is someone out there who has that key to this, that has that piece of the puzzle that's going to open up and start to make the picture clear."
