Darcy Martin says the passage of time doesn't make the loss of her granddaughter any easier, but she's not giving up hope that justice will one day be served.
It has now been seven years since the remains of Vernon 18-year-old Traci Genereaux were found on a farm on Salmon River Road near Silver Creek on Oct. 21, 2017. Police consider her death suspicious but have yet to lay charges.
Martin said she speaks to the lead RCMP investigator in the case twice a year, and while he assures her that it's not a cold case and is still actively being investigated, she never hears much to indicate that the case is progressing.
She understands. Police have many other serious files in the area to take care of and Martin knows the RCMP is short staffed. But still, she wonders if enough investigators are being assigned to the case, if anything else can be done to push the case forward, or if there are things police aren't telling her.
Until the day comes when she gets a phone call saying police have made an arrest, Martin will continue to keep her name in the public eye.
Dates on the calendar are filled with pain, such as Genereaux's birthday, special occasions imbued with old memories, and this past Monday, the seven-year anniversary of the day her remains were found.
Reminders of Genereaux can come up unannounced, passing Martin by on the street.
"I see girls walking down the street that sometimes look like her, and I think 'oh my God,' and it just chokes me up, because she should be the one walking down that street," she said. "Even when somebody's arrested, is that going to be good enough? Is that going to be justice for her? She was taken too soon from us."
The past couple years have been especially difficult. On top of the ongoing pain of losing her granddaughter, Martin's daughter — who used to help organize rallies for justice on the Vernon courthouse steps — passed away two years ago, and her son, Genereaux's father, died last year.
"The two of them will never see the outcome of this," Martin said. "I feel like I have to stand in for both of them now and be there to pursue this to the end, no matter what the outcome."
The property where Genereaux's remains were found is connected to Curtis Sagmoen, who has been convicted of violent crimes against women in the past. In December 2019 he was found guilty of threatening a sex trade worker with a firearm while wearing a mask. In February 2020 he was found guilty of violently ramming another sex trade worker with an ATV. Both crimes took place at the same Salmon River Road property where Traci's remains were found, roughly two months before the discovery of her remains there.
Police have not publicly connected Sagmoen to Genereaux's death.
Rallies have taken place at the Salmon River Road farm in the past, and Martin said on Monday a pair of women went to the farm in a spur-of-the-moment call for justice.
"I just got the news that they had gone out there, they put this cross up there, and then they also wrote on the road 'Who murdered Traci Genereaux?' At the time they did that, apparently Curtis drove by in his vehicle and went flying by, because he was I guess a little upset about it," she said, adding she was informed the women stayed off the property and stuck to the adjacent road.
Martin said she has mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, she's grateful that people are making an effort to remember her granddaughter and call for justice. On the other, she worries about people's safety if they choose to go to the property.
As for herself, Martin says she's never been to the farm.
"I don't think I could go out there. I think that would be too hard."
Martin hopes her granddaughter will be remembered as a girl who loved hiking through nature, baking and doing crafts, always with a beautiful smile on her face.
"Every time my husband and I go out somewhere, hiking or walking or camping, we always say we wish we could have taken her with us."
Cpl. James Grandy confirmed that the RCMP's investigation of Genereaux's death "remains open and active," but he could not provide further details at this time.
