Family of missing Indigenous woman hopeful new billboard, reward could provide answers

Catherine Garrett · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 11, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The household of a missing Indigenous pistillate is hoping a caller RCMP billboard run successful northwestern Alberta and a $10,000 reward volition make leads successful a lawsuit that stretches backmost astir six years.

Shae-Lynn McAllister, a subordinate of Horse Lake First Nation, was 20 years aged erstwhile she disappeared from the Shell state presumption successful Fairview, Alta., on the nighttime of July 7, 2019. She had conscionable finished enactment astatine the section A&W.

Fairview is astir 550 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

RCMP originally treated the disappearance arsenic a missing persons case, but a societal media station Monday said that "as a effect of our investigation, constabulary judge she is improbable to beryllium recovered alive." 

"I've cried, I've prayed and I've prayed," said Shae-Lynn's mother, Trudy McAllister, from her location connected Duncan's First Nation, about 40 kilometres eastbound of Fairview.   

"[I'm] hoping 1 time she mightiness conscionable travel walking done this door. Anything. I'm hoping idiosyncratic volition travel guardant and accidental something.

"I wouldn't privation this connected anyone."

'Guardian angel'

The parent of 2 is described by household arsenic a friendly, blessed idiosyncratic with a grin that could airy up the room. 

She loved being a parent and she adored her 2 young children, eight-year-old Tyson and seven-year-old Serenity. 

Family said she besides struggled with addiction and substance usage successful the years starring up to her disappearance, but was moving to effort to get cleanable and enrol successful treatment. 

The children are being raised by their paternal grandparents Sherry Schischikowsky and Rory Obrigewitch in adjacent Hines Creek, astir 30 kilometres northbound of Fairview. 

Obrigewitch said the children were excessively young to truly retrieve their mother, but each present and again they volition retrieve small things. 

"And it's heartbreaking, that portion of things," Obrigewitch said.

"We ever conscionable archer [them] that she's [their] guardian angel. That we're not going to springiness up looking for her," said Schischikowsky. 

The mates person a keepsake thorax for the children. It's afloat of household photos and items to assistance punctual the children of their mother. 

"We effort to support her representation alive. We effort to archer them however arrogant she'd beryllium of them erstwhile they bash great," said Obrigewitch.

"If there's ever immoderate mode to find retired what happened oregon retrieve her assemblage truthful we could person determination wherever these 2 small ones tin spell and sojourn and accidental 'this is my mom.' 

"We don't person that."

Billboards caller successful bluish Alberta

Cpl. Matthew Howell said that RCMP judge determination whitethorn beryllium section engagement successful McAllister's disappearance, and that determination are radical residing successful Fairview who cognize what happened but person not spoken to police. 

Howell said they anticipation the sign and reward volition elicit caller leads. 

Advocates for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls successful bluish Alberta wonderment wherefore the billboard was enactment up truthful agelong aft McAllister went missing. 

"[These billboards], for bluish Alberta, perfectly it's thing new," said Wendy Goulet, a grassroots organizer who lives successful Peace River.

"I'm hopeful we volition spot much of this, with the RCMP doing this for this file, possibly this volition hap for different ones successful the community."

Goulet became progressive successful advocacy aft her relative Krystle Knott went missing from West Edmonton Mall successful 2005. Her skull was recovered adjacent Grande Prairie, Alta., successful 2011.

Goulet's niece, Lorraine Maltais-Chonkolay, disappeared past June and remains missing. 

'A representation is worthy a 1000 words'

The signs are much communal successful bluish B.C. says different advocator successful that region. 

More than 40 women, chiefly Indigenous, person gone missing oregon been murdered on British Columbia's Highway 16, dubbed the Highway of Tears, since 1969.

Gladys Radek made her ain travelling billboard by putting pictures of missing women from her portion connected her car and driving crossed the state to rise consciousness for the cases. 

One of them is her niece, Tamara Lynn Chipman, who disappeared successful 2005. 

"It generated questions, radical would archer maine their stories," said Radek, from her location successful Terrace, B.C.

"If we could person billboards with pictures of each [person] missing from a assemblage astir that community, that's however you rise awareness. A representation is worthy a 1000 words."