By Bryan Eneas

Search efforts continue for Happy Charles despite confusion over case status

Jul 28, 2017 | 2:00 PM

The search for a missing woman remains ongoing for her family despite confusion over the case’s investigation status.

Happy Charles, 42, was reported missing on April 1. She was last believed to be in Prince Albert. 

Carson Poitras, Charles’ step-father, said a member of the Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS) recently told him and other family members the investigation’s status had changed to a homicide.

“They changed the status of [Happy’s] case from a missing to a homicide,” Poitras said. “[My wife] got told last Thursday.”

Poitras said he isn’t sure why he was told there was a change in the status – there was no evidence presented to the family when they were in discussions with police.

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Insp. John Bergen, who’s in charge of the major crimes unit for the Prince Albert Police Service said the investigation hadn’t changed status.

“I’m not sure what was told to the family, but I can tell you the collection of all evidence has been very detailed and it’s [the] criminal investigation division that is handling this as our primary file,” Bergen said. “We’re being very thorough in our evidence collection to make sure it’s collected lawfully and we continue to work [this case] as we have right from the moment the criminal investigation took over the file.”

Bergen said he is unsure why the family would have understood the conversation which took place on July 20 to be a discussion about the possibility of a shift to a homicide investigation.

Despite the confusion the family’s search remains ongoing and members are currently fundraising.

Each coordinated search effort costs the family between $300 and $800 – and Poitras said it’s starting to take a toll on their life. He said searchers slowed down in order to care for their mental and physical wellbeing.

“We’re getting worn out. We’re getting frustrated,” Poitras said. “We’ve been told more than once we don’t have the supports that we used to, and hence we’ve had to do some fundraising efforts.”

Bills have also started to pile up. According to Poitras, there are final notice warnings for power and gas at home.

“It’s something that we chose to do, because we need to bring [Happy] home,” he said.  

Poitras said he and his wife Regina plan on visiting the upcoming Beardy’s and Okemasis, and Muskoday traditional powwows to host a blanket dance in the hopes of raise some money for future searches.

Beyond financial supports, the family has received help from reserves around Prince Albert. Poitras said leaders from Muskoday and Sturgeon Lake have come out to personally lend a hand in finding Happy.

Poitras requested all farmers in a 40 km radius of Prince Albert to check their fields, wooded areas, outbuildings or sloughs for anything which may seem out of place. He said previous requests have proven fruitful in the past.

So far, search efforts in the Prince Albert area have turned up a few promising results according to Poitras. Evidence has been turned into the Prince Albert Police Service’ forensics unit for examination.

“We are running out of places to look, yes but we are getting some other leads coming in as well, from other sources.” he said.

Happy Charles is described as 5’3”, roughly 112 lbs with brown hair and brown eyes.  Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the Prince Albert Police or Crime Stoppers.

Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @BryanEneas