Hundreds of people showed up at Nanaimo’s Maffeo Sutton Park to mark the 23rd year since Lisa Marie Young, then 21, vanished following a night out with friends.
On June 29, 2002, Lisa joined friends at a Nanaimo nightclub to celebrate a friend’s birthday. She was about to start a new job and move into a new apartment. But when her parents hadn’t heard from their only daughter the next day, concern turned to panic when Lisa’s former roommate told them that Lisa hadn’t moved her belongings into her new apartment.
Friends and family subsequently learned that Lisa and her group of friends met a man driving an older red Jaguar at the nightclub who offered to drive some of them to a house party. At around 3:00 a.m. on June 30, 2002, the man offered to drive Lisa somewhere to get a bite to eat. That was the last time she was seen by friends.
Extensive searches were conducted around Nanaimo in the years following her disappearance. Both the police and Young’s parents, Don and Marlene (Joanne) Young, said from the start that they believe Lisa met with foul play.
The man driving the Jaguar was identified as Christopher William Adair and he has been questioned by the police. The RCMP say he is a person of interest in the case and he has never been charged with a crime in Lisa’s disappearance.
In January 2025, Ha-Shilth-Sa reported that Christopher William Adair has lived in Türkiye for the last several years, residing in Fethiye, a seaside tourist location since 2017. Adair also spends time in the Philippines, as was reported on Dec. 30, 2024, from the newspaper Türkiye Today.
The Nanaimo RCMP are now treating Lisa’s case as a homicide. Lisa’s family pleads not only for justice but also for information that will allow them to locate her remains.
On Sunday, June 29, 2025, a group of Lisa’s friends and family led by Carol Frank marched from the Nanaimo RCMP detachment to Maffeo Sutton Park. Carol wore a t-shirt with her niece’s face printed on the front.
Hundreds of people met the group at the park’s pavilion, which was decorated with red dresses, symbolizing Canada’s hundreds of missing/murdered Indigenous women. There were photos of Lisa everywhere along with sprigs of cedar and red roses.
Watching from the sidelines was Wayne Clary who was there on behalf of BC FILU (British Columbia Family Information Liaison Unit). The BC FILU is a provincial frontline victim service unit for families of missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls. It is designed to assist them in accessing information they are seeking related to the loss of their loved one.
Clary, a retired investigator who has worked on the Highway of Tears and Pickton cases, explained that FILU came because of the MMIWG (Missing Murdered Indigenous Women/Girls) Final Report.
In his role at the BC FILU, he and fellow police officers meet regularly with the families of missing/murdered Indigenous people to provide the most up-to-date information to them. They have been meeting with the family of Lisa Marie Young every year for about six years.
Clary said he met Lisa’s mother, Joanne, at one of the first meetings in about 2019 at Long Beach.
Of all the FILU’s across Canada, Clary says British Columbia is the busiest. That should come as no surprise as British Columbia places second behind Ontario with the largest Indigenous population.
BC FILU is keeping the Young and Martin families informed on the progress of the investigation.
Both of Lisa’s grandparents were at the pavilion, Tla-o-qui-aht elders Moses Martin and Cecilia Arnet. Elder Joe Martin was also there, offering cultural support. Moses started things off by singing Amazing Grace in the Nuu-chah-nulth language.
A women’s choir called Island Harmony Acapella was there to sing special songs in Lisa’s memory and RCMP officers were given carved paddles made by Mike Martin, Lisa’s uncle.
The Nanaimo RCMP noted that Mike Martin had gifted carved paddles to Cpl. Muir and his human remains detection dog, Luca, years before. They said it was a gesture of appreciation for their commitment to Lisa’s file.
This year, Mike made two more of his carved paddles to Sgt. Muntener and Cst. Pinfold, in recognition of their dedication and tireless efforts on Lisa’s file.
The Martin family then bestowed Tla-o-qui-aht names to Cyndi Hall and Laura Palmer for their unwavering effort and support in finding answers about Lisa’s disappearance.
Special guest speakers included Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog and BC NDP MP George Anderson.
Lisa Marie Young was 21 when she disappeared in June 2002. She was 5’ 4”, weighing about 115 lb (52 kg). With brown eyes and long, brown hair. Lisa was Caucasian and Indigenous (Tla-o-qui-aht).
The Youngs, the Tla-o-qui-aht family and friends of Lisa have worked tirelessly to keep a spotlight on Lisa’s story. Joanne searched for her daughter until her own death in 2017. Since then, Carol Frank, Lisa’s aunt, has stepped into her sister Joanne’s shoes, acting as family spokesperson and attending events in Lisa’s honour.
Every June the family and friends of Lisa host an event to keep a spotlight on her case. She has now been missing for more years than she lived.
There is a $50,000 USD reward being offered in return for the remains of Lisa Marie Young.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345.
