The file remains open, but Ashley Simpson’s family is no closer to knowing what happened to the 32-year-old woman than when she went missing April 27.
John and Cindy Simpson have still heard nothing about the whereabouts of their daughter, who the RCMP believe may have been the victim of foul play. In May, the RCMP brought in members of the major crimes unit to work on the case.
In a message sent to John and Cindy, RCMP Sgt. Steven Rigby recently outlined their work on the case.
“The primary efforts over the past two weeks have been to complete another ground search in the high priority areas that we identified and analyzing some of the evidence and statements that have been collected to date,” said Rigby in an email to the family.
“Our investigators worked with members of the tactical team during the latest search and covered a substantial amount of area over a three-day period. Unfortunately, we still don’t have any results to provide you that will help you deal with your family’s loss.”
Police have released no public information about their findings.
In the initial weeks following Ashley’s disappearance, searches were conducted in the area of Yankee Flats and Silver Creek, especially focused on the Yankee Flats property where Simpson had been living in a travel trailer with her boyfriend, Derek Favell.
Brent Cox, who owns the property where Ashley had been living, told the Observer that Simpson and her boyfriend had a fight about money on April 27, and Simpson had texted Favell to say she was leaving.
Cox says Simpson had indicated she wanted to go back to Ontario to work with her father, but did not have the financial means to get there.
Simpson has not been seen or heard from since.
In the meantime and as a way to cope with the anxiety of not knowing Ashley’s whereabouts, the Simpson family has participated in a number of fundraisers and events highlighting the plight of missing or murdered women and issues surrounding domestic violence.
The police investigators reiterated to John and Cindy that any and all information related to Ashley’s case is important.
Anyone with information relevant to this investigation can contact the Enderby RCMP detachment at 250-838-6818, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.