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Community searches for answers

On Saturday, the families of Ashley Simpson, Caitlin Potts and Deanna Wertz will gather
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Caitlin Potts (left), Deanna Wertz and Ashley Simpson have all been missing since last year. (Photo submitted)

Sorrow and uncertainty have brought three families and an entire community together.

On Saturday, the families of Ashley Simpson, Caitlin Potts and Deanna Wertz will gather and search for any clues that may lead to the women who went missing in the Enderby area.

“We’re asking the public for any information they have on the women and to report it to the police,” said Jody Leon, a Splatsin member who helped organize activities.

None of the women are Splatsin but they disappeared in the nation’s territory.

“It really hits home. I can’t believe three women have gone missing within 15 months all within a 30-kilometre radius,” said Leon.

“This contributes to the missing women in Canada. It’s devastating for the families on a daily basis.”

Simpson, 32, went missing April 27, 2016 from the Yankee Flats area.

Caitlin Potts, 27, was reported missing March 1, 2016. She was living in the Enderby area and video surveillance shows her at a Kelowna mall Feb. 21, 2016.

Wertz, 46, was reported missing July 22. She was last seen July 19 at her residence on Yankee Flats Road.

Leon has met with Simpson’s father, who is currently in the North Okanagan from his home in Ontario.

“You can see the grief on his face — the overwhelming grief,” said Leon.

The families will be walking a 118-kilometre awareness walk over the areas where the women were last seen alive.

“The call has been out out for the community to participate and the Silver Creek community is also involved,” said Leon.

“We have mayors and chiefs involved. It’s a grassroots effort.”