Police are looking for a murderer while a family looks for closure in the Fort St. James area.
Investigators still have a seal on the site where they found the body of Fribjon Bjornson last week, and they will say nothing of what they found there other than foul play is suspected in his death and they have leads.
"There are a number of tips and [North District Major Crime Unit investigators] continue to interview witnesses," said RCMP spokeswoman Const. Lesley Smith. "They are still asking people with information to come forward, even if it is something that might seem small. It really might be that vital piece of the puzzle we were missing.
"Anyone who may have been with, or saw, or heard about Mr. Bjornson's activities leading up to his disappearance, we want to know about that. We know those individuals are out there who have that information and can bring closure to the family and the community by providing that."
Bjornson's mother, Eileen Bjornson, is calling on the Fort St. James-Vanderhoof community, and the people connected to it, to stand up and provide answers or she fears the violence will continue.
She is aware of too many other cases of death or disappearance in the Central Interior to wish her pain on any more families.
"This was my son, but it could have been anybody's son. We are just regular people," she told The Citizen. "There are lots of rumours about what happened to my son. I know the police are working on things. We are very confident in our police team. They live in the community too. Their children go to school here too. Everyone is impacted by this, and people need to do something about it."
She is aware that her son had struggled with drug use, but that did not necessarily answer the questions surrounding, first, his disappearance and, second, the discovery of his body. There were many factors, like her son's naturally trusting nature, that could have put him in harm's way.
Smith concurred that all the factors police had to deal with were outside of the young man's normal behaviour. The disappearance had several factors that all deviated from his patterns.
- Jan. 21 was the last confirmed Bjornson sighting (video surveillance at Vanderhoof 7-11);
- Jan. 21 Bjornson's loved ones reported him missing to police;
- Jan. 23 police locate Bjornson's abandoned vehicle near Fort St. James;
- Feb. 2 a home in the Nak'azdli neighbourhood of Fort St. James is cordoned off by police after the discovery of a body;
- Feb. 4 forensics confirm Bjornson as the person found inside inside the home.
RALLY SET FOR SATURDAY
A community rally and march protesting violence is scheduled for Feb. 25 starting at noon at Kwah Hall, led by Eileen Bjornson.
"Mrs. Bjornson has been active with this investigation from the beginning," said Smith. "She was assisting the police as well as her own mission, through social media sites, hoping to learn what she could of where her son was, and what could be done to find him. She is now completely involved in this investigation, and she is not the only one. It is not only a small community, it is a motivated community, and people are grieving. There won't be any closure until we identify the persons responsible and hold them accountable."
Bjornson implored the public for help to close her son's case, and at the same time prevent future incidents.
"It is time our community stopped tuning a blind eye," she said. "It is not somebody else's problem, it is our problem. People needs to keep their eyes open, they need to take down license plate numbers, they need to stand on their streets and show themselves standing up for their neighbourhoods. They need to call the police and report."
Anyone who may have seen Bjornson or his vehicle after he was reported missing on Jan. 21 or who has information about his death is asked to contact the Fort St. James RCMP at 250-996-8269 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
