At the two-year mark that he’s been missing, Eva Couture believes that someone out there has information about what really happened to her son.
Kristofer (Kris) Couture, went missing on Jan. 26, 2019, with his grey Saturn abandoned at a Chilliwack hiking trail.
His mom can’t let it go completely until she is able at last to bring her son home.
“Tomorrow marks another year that has passed and I miss you more than words can even begin to describe,” Couture wrote Jan. 25 on the Facebook group page she started for him.
There were several searches for the missing 25-year-old young man in the months following, by RCMP, Wings of Mercy, Chilliwack SAR, SARBC, family and friends, CASDDA with no new information unearthed to fill in the blanks.
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“What happened that weekend, I wish someone would come forward and give some insight into your whereabouts,” she posted.
Residents of Chilliwack and beyond who read stories in The Progress were touched by them and several became friends with mom Eva, during the early search phases and since.
“I have tried to live my life in a different way since all of this happened, I look for the good and kindness in people,” Couture posted for the two-year anniversary. “Believe it or not I have made many new friends thru this tragedy and you know who you are. Strangers who didn’t know us 2 years ago, offering help, accommodations, meals and most importantly friendship and hope in a time when the world feels dark.”
One local posted in response to that: “I live in Chilliwack and am always thinking of your son. And I’m always looking. I have a son, I can only imagine your pain. I hope one day your answers are found, and he is as well.”
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As his mom has has recounted over and over since the investigation, Kris Couture first arrived in the Lower Mainland from Edmonton, Alberta in mid January 2019 looking for work. He found it in construction.
Two of the established facts are that he went to his roofing job in Maple Ridge the morning of Jan. 25, 2019 and was seen at Good Life Fitness in Burnaby that afternoon. The next day he was spotted leaving the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster.
“I know many of you want to know why he was at the hospital, but I don’t know the exact reason and to be honest it simply doesn’t change the fact he’s still missing, no matter the reason,” his mom wrote in the most recent post.
There was a purchase at Save On Foods Jan. 26, 2019 in New Westminster that she said she believed to be his, based on the purchase.
His vehicle was found by an off-duty RCMP officer the evening of Jan 27, 2019 parked at the Elk Mountain trail in Chilliwack, with a smashed rear window.
But Couture was only officially reported missing on May 17, 2019 after the family was notified by RCMP via mail that the car had been towed in May. The vehicle had been in that parking lot from January to May and was broken into repeatedly.
“Hikers in the area have told us they saw the car but there was police tape on it so everyone thought it was being addressed so did not see the need to report it again.”
His cell phone was not used after Jan. 25.
“We believe there were several fraudulent attempts at using his information and cards over the three month.”
In April she received a call from the same RCMP detachment to advise that his wallet had been found, no mention of the vehicle, and she told police she concerned because she could not reach her son.
“The response I received was ‘Now you know where he is.’ How I wish that statement were true and my regret is I didn’t push any further until I received the letter in the mail.”
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In May, mom was in Chilliwack at the local RCMP detachment making a tearful plea for tips from any witnesses. Then a month later, she launched a civilian search of Elk-Thurston in the hopes of finding her son, all to no avail.
Now in 2021, Couture printed new missing person posters recently for anyone in the group wanting to help jog the memory of someone who saw something.
“My ask is that you take a moment to either print one and hang it in your community for us or share on social media. I can’t be everywhere but I’m hoping as a team we can bring my son home.”
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email:
jfeinberg@theprogress.com
@CHWKjourno
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