Saik’uz Chief says First Nation, Search and Rescue working tirelessly to find Chelsey Quaw

“Our community is very worried right now.”

That’s from Saik’uz Chief Priscilla Mueller as they continue to look for Chelsey Quaw who has not been seen in a week.

Mueller noted ten Search and Rescue crews from across the north have covered over 1,000 kilometers so far during their ongoing search.

This also included the Prince George Provincial Emergency Radio Communication Service.

She added their community will not leave any stone unturned while searching for the missing woman.

“What our plan for this week is to go house to house – we’ve gone through all of the sheds any empty vehicles, structures, or buildings. Last week we did the same thing, we are triple-checking those areas.”

“Today will be a community sweep where we will check every ditch and any tall grass area – all of that will be done today.”

PG SAR Spokesperson, Lauren Phillips mentioned after a few days off, crews are going back to the area shortly.

“This weekend we will be heading back with some of our other search teams from across the north. We have 52 search and rescue volunteers involved across all of those teams from the north totaling 828 searching hours for all of those teams.”

Mueller added a walkabout is planned for Downtown Prince George tomorrow (Thursday) with a focus on George Street and Moccasin Flats.

“We know some members that are down there who may have seen here so we are going to try and connect with a few people. We do have some support workers that are down there already looking and talking to people but nothing has come up.”

Mueller says like many communities in BC, they continue to grapple with the toxic drug crisis and aren’t sure if other missing person cases such as Jay Raphael (Since February of this year) and Nicholas John are related to the same issue.

John’s remains were found in October of 2022 near Vanderhoof after the RCMP was called to a residence on Kenney Dam Road.

“I don’t know if these cases are drug-related but our community is very worried right now for the safety of every member that lives here. Sometimes we get strange people coming into the community that we have never seen before. A lot of action happens during the night.”

Chief and council are in the process of discussing enhanced safety measures for on-reserve residents such as home cameras, but Mueller admits that is in the early stages.

“I think that if we have more cameras at the homes we might feel a bit safer. I am not too sure but I know our community is very worried right now.”