VANCOUVER -- It's now been seven weeks since anyone has heard from April Parisian, but at a vigil Saturday in Hope, B.C. the missing woman's friends and family gathered to affirm their commitment to keep searching.
"It's hard for me to talk about her because I love her so much. She's my baby," said Keitha Parisian, April's grandmother.
No one in April’s family has heard from her since April 5. Tammy Francis, April's cousin, previously told CTV News Vancouver her family began to worry after her aunt received a phone call from April’s fiancé , Paris Margesson, saying he couldn't find April.
When police went searching for April's truck and camper, they found the vehicle in a rural area on Vey Road near the Abbotsford-Chilliwack border on April 16. Police said they attempted to speak with a man inside the camper, then found him inside the camper with what they believed was a self-inflicted wound; the man later died. He has been identified as Paris Margesson, according to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.
Since then, April Parisian's family has never stopped searching for the 45-year-old Indigenous woman. Under the guidance of RCMP, searchers have focused on backcountry areas near Yale and Spuzzum where April and Paris were known to have gone together.
RCMP have said April Parisian may have been the victim of foul play, and their missing persons investigation remains open.
At the vigil in Hope, Lee Ann Nett, April's sister-in-law, said the search has become more challenging as time has gone on and search parties have now looked in most of the places identified.
"I have really given my full self to finding April and every day coming up empty-handed has been the most difficult thing I've ever faced," Nett said.
"It's tough to have no clues, nothing to go on. We're going on clairvoyance, mediums, visions and our own dreams. It's not a lot."
Despite the weeks that have passed, and all the fruitless searches on logging roads, Keitha Parisian said she still has hope her granddaughter is alive and will be found.
"I don't feel that she's gone on to the other side yet," said Parisian.
Anyone with information about April Parisian can call RCMP at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448), or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Michele Brunoro.