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Former boyfriend of missing Shuswap woman charged with murder

Ashley Simpson went missing in April 2016, she had been living on Yankee Flats Road near Salmon Arm
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A murder charge has been laid regarding Ashley Simpson who went missing in April 2016. (Photo contributed)

A charge has been laid in the disappearance of Ashley Simpson.

The 32-year-old woman was last seen on April 27, 2016.

Court records show that Derek Lee Matthew Favell, 39, who was her boyfriend at the time, has been charged with second-degree murder in the offence which is alleged to have taken place on April 27, 2016.

Her parents, who live in Ontario, have held searches along with family and friends, never letting her disappearance fade from memory.

Favell’s next court appearance is Dec. 9 in Kamloops.

Simpson is one of five women who disappeared in the Okanagan-Shuswap region about five years ago. 2021 also brought the five-year anniversary of the disappearance of Caitlin Potts and Deanna Wertz, and four years for Nicole Bell.

Vernon’s Traci Genereaux, 18, was also missing but her remains were found in October 2017 on a farm in Silver Creek where Curtis Sagmoen, who is currently facing charges of assaulting a police officer, was living. No charges have been laid in connection with her death.

RCMP are expected to release further information on the charges.

Read more: Parents of missing Shuswap woman implore people to break their silence

Read more: Five years pass with no peace for families of North Okanagan-Shuswap missing women



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Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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