The sister of a the Highway of Tears victim encouraged former B.C. Supreme Court Justice Wally Oppal to visit the small towns along the stretch when the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry begins formal hearings later this year.
"Come and see our communities," urged Brenda Wilson during a pre-hearing forum Friday in Prince George. "See what we live in, then you'll understand why there are so many girls living along that highway. We don't have everything that you have in Vancouver."
She's the only sister of Ramona Wilson, the 15-year-old whose strangled body was found near Smithers airport 10 months after she was last seen hitchhiking to a friend's home in nearby Moricetown.
Wilson also asked Oppal that he treat the Highway of Tears as a separate issue from the Pickton murders in the Lower Mainland, noting that, in contrast to Pickton's victims most of the missing women along the highway are under 19 years old and no killer has been found.
The two themes were repeated throughout the forum, which drew about 100 people to the Civic Centre. A similar forum was held in Vancouver on Wednesday in advance of formal hearings, set to begin in June and likely to last into the fall. Oppal has until Dec. 31 to complete a report.
