DESPERATE FAMILY SEARCHES FOR LOVED ONE

It is with great sadness that I read about nine more people listed as
missing from the Downtown Eastside (Another nine women feared missing,
July 26). Unfortunately, I am not surprised. My younger sister went
missing two months ago and, because she is a drug user, I could not
get the police or any of the media interested in her
disappearance.

The police give news conferences about their search at the Port
Coquitlam pig farm, yet they still do nothing when a woman goes
missing from the Downtown Eastside. My family and I contacted every
major television station, sent letters to both of Vancouver's daily
newspapers and even tried to pique the interest of a news radio
station, all to no avail.

While my sister may not be a prostitute, she is a drug user and lives
on the Downtown Eastside. I guess if she lived in Point Grey and
worked for an accounting firm the police and the media would have been
more interested in helping my family and I to locate her.

Shame on you, Vancouver Sun, for running the story about nine more
women who have gone missing, and not a few lines for a desperate
family searching for a loved one.

Now I know what those 54 (now 63) families have gone
through.

Julie MacQuarrie-Burton

Delta