Hundreds of people wearing red marched down Central Ave. in Prince Albert on July 30 for the 21st Annual “Honouring our Sisters, Brothers, & 2SLGBTQ+” Memorial Walk. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Memorial Walk

‘A pandemic’: P.A. comes together to shed light on growing crisis

Jul 30, 2025 | 5:50 PM

Hundreds wearing red gathered at the Sisters In Spirit monument in downtown Prince Albert on Wednesday to remember family, friends, and loved ones who were taken from them or who haven’t returned home.

Before the 21st Annual “Honouring our Sisters, Brothers, & 2SLGBTQ+” Memorial Walk marched down Central Ave. and onto Kinsmen Park, a ceremony was held in front of the monument that featured speakers from the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC), Prince Albert Police, and some families who lost a loved one or one that has gone missing.

Some took to the stand to share stories, others to express their pain or sorrow, including PAGC Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte. He showed frustration at how the number of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples continues to grow.

“21 years we’ve been doing this walk, and sadly that list is still growing,” he said. “There’s still people – our loved ones, our sister, brothers that are missing… what is it that we can do?”

PAGC Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte speaks at the 21st Annual “Honouring our Sisters, Brothers, & 2SLGBTQ+” Memorial Walk in Prince Albert. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

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“I’ve always said not to close the files of the ones that are still missing – their loved ones, our loved ones. Some people have information out there, vital information that they want to share but they’re scared. But we say to these people – the compassion, the information… don’t be scared. Come out with that information that might help finding that one loved one.”

PAGC Vice Chief Christopher Jobb echoed Hardlotte, and said to never stop believing that they will be found or that justice will be served.

“We’ll always have hope. Each individual here always has hope when they lose a loved one. These tips that have come out, you should never give up hope. We need to hold onto that hope because without hope, we go crazy. And like they say, somebody knows something out there. By you being here today, [that] shows the character that you love, the compassion.”

“It’s a crisis, it’s a pandemic right across Canada and Turtle Island (North America).”

PAGC Vice Chief Christopher Jobb. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

While some families deal with the heart-wrenching mystery of what happened to their loved one, others are lucky and find answers to that same mystery. However, some loved ones are found but leave behind questions surrounding their death, like with Adyson King.

King was 18 years old when she was reported missing from Flying Dust First Nation on April 15, 2025. Her body was found the next day by local searchers and as of the publication of this article, no cause of death has been determined, and no arrests have been made.

Fighting through tears, Adyson’s aunt, Loretta King, said the family is both angry and upset at how quickly a decision was made regarding how she passed. She added that she was seen with some ‘new friends’ prior to her disappearance, and was eventually able to retrieve her cellphone from the group after her passing.

“She went out with some friends – some new friends, and that was the last time she was seen. We had so many questions,” she said, standing next to Adyson’s grandma, Gwen. “My sister (Adyson’s mom) wanted to express that she was very upset that immediately, those members who had been called to provide support to my family had quickly come up with a decision that she had ‘crossed the river’. I’ll tell you as her auntie, when I went to the field where she was found and I seen that little baby girl lying there, I knew she didn’t just cross the river – she laid in [that] field for half a day.”

“We went to the Funeral Home to view her, and at that moment, our whole world crumbled again as if it hadn’t already,” she continued. “We recognized marks on this young lady, my sweet little niece, that she had not left home with. There were signs of violence that we saw.”

An emotional Loretta King, aunt of Adyson King, spoke for nearly 10 minutes alongside Adyson’s grandma, Gwen (left), who was also fighting back tears. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

According to a 2025 report by Aboriginal Alert, Indigenous women and girls accounted for 62 per cent of all missing person alerts in Canada in 2024, while the men and boys represented 32 per cent.

Of those 816 missing females, 770 were located alive by the end of the year, 16 were found deceased, and 30 remained missing. For the 480 missing males, 401 were located alive, 39 were found deceased, and 40 were still missing.

The average age for those reported missing in Canada last year was between 12 and 17 years old, where youth accounted for 46 per cent of all recorded alerts—606 instances total. Of those, 388 were girls, 202 were boys, and 16 were labelled as ‘unspecified’, where 587 youth were located alive, five were found deceased, and 14 remained missing by year’s end.

In Saskatchewan, there were 250 missing Indigenous peoples reports in 2024.

Women and girls made up 59 per cent of that group, where 138 were located alive, one was found deceased, and six were still missing. As for the men and boys, they made up the remaining 41 per cent, where 86 were found alive, six were found deceased, and 10 were still missing. The 250 missing Indigenous peoples reports in Saskatchewan were the third most in Canada, behind Manitoba’s 363 and Ontario’s 272.

In Prince Albert specifically, there were 20 missing Indigenous peoples reports, which was down from 21 the year prior.

The family of Happy Charles took part in the walk on Wednesday. She has been missing for eight years and was last seen in Prince Albert. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

The family of Kevin Charles and Mary Goodfellow also partook in the walk. The two went missing together in Chitek Lake in April 1993. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

On Bluesky: @loganlehmann.bsky.social