Handling of teen's death, disappearance require probe: vigil organizers

Family, friends and supporters of Noelle O'Soup stood vigil in front of a large, arched wrought-iron gate on Heatley Avenue in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside on Tuesday evening — through which the 14-year-old entered the Heatley Block rooming house for the last time at some point in early 2022.

Organizer Lorelei Williams said family from Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. were among the 120 people who lined both sides of the street in front of the two-storey building where O'Soup was found on May 1 — almost a year after she was reported missing from a care home in Port Coquitlam.

“The purpose of this vigil is to honour Noelle and to raise awareness of missing Indigenous women and to call for an investigation into how this case was handled by the police and the (government),” Williams said.

Noelle is a member of the Key First Nation in southern Saskatchewan and was living under the care of the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development when she walked out of her Port Coquitlam care home on the evening of May 12, 2021. Noelle was reported missing a week later by the Coquitlam RCMP.

In January, the RCMP issued another news release with photos they believed might have shown Noelle. Police said at that time she was known to spend time in Vancouver and “may be avoiding having her well-being checked.”

Key First Nation Chief Clinton Key and Coun. Solomon Reece told Postmedia News last week that they want a third-party investigation into how the Coquitlam RCMP, the ministry and the Vancouver police have handled this case. The band has posted a $10,000 reward for information.