Missing Persons Week draws attention to unsolved cases in Saskatchewan 

WATCH: The number of missing persons cases reported to the Prince Albert Police Service has been steadily rising each year.

Carson Poitras’ stepdaughter, Happy Charles, went missing from Prince Albert in 2017, and her case remains unsolved.

He says when Happy first went missing, he met other families with similar stories.

Every one of them was the same. When a loved one goes missing, they have to reinvent the wheel as to how to do a search on their own."

Poitras says cases like Happy’s could benefit from an independent organization that specializes in unsolved missing persons cases.

“There’s nothing about us without us. In this instance, we have to make sure that we include the families in trying to decide moving forward what would be best for that office.”

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The number of missing persons cases reported to the Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS) has been steadily rising.

In 2022, there were 1,012 reported cases; in 2023, there were 1,103; and by 2024, the number had increased to 1,296.

“The rise could be due to a variety of complex factors,” said Insp. Lisa Simonson with the PAPS criminal investigation division. “Whether it’s addiction, housing instability, and vulnerable youth populations.”

Saskatchewan’s Missing Persons Week began on April 27 and runs until May 3.

Prince Albert police are using Missing Persons Week to draw attention to open cases.

“The majority of our missing person files are resolved quickly,” said Simonson. “Often, the individual has returned on their own or has been located by the police. But we do continue to investigate historical files.”

Prince Albert police say they received over 1,200 missing persons reports in 2024, and 11 were left unsolved at the end of the year.

The Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police reports over 140 people are missing in the province whose cases have remained unsolved for six months or more.