An Abbotsford family is renewing their plea for help to find their missing daughter on the five-year anniversary of her disappearance.
Kristina Ward was last seen in Surrey on Sept. 27, 2017, walking with a man that police have never been able to identify.
Surveillance video taken near 144th Street and 104th Avenue sometime between 7:50 and 8:45 p.m. shows the then 20-year-old walking behind a man with a bike.
Police hope someone will be able to identify him.
“Police encourage everyone to view the video. Unfortunately, it is taken from quite a distance, however you may be familiar with the gait or mannerisms of the male walking with Kristina,” said RCMP in a news release two years after her disappearance.
Her mother, Lee Anne Ward, said her daughter had plans to meet up with some friends in Langley the day she vanished.
“It’s painful to keep on going on and not knowing anything,” Lee Anne said.
It’s unclear how she ended up in Surrey and her phone and bank account have had no activity since then.
“Investigators have received several ‘tips’ relating to Kristina but unfortunately, none have proven fruitful,” said Cpl. Holly Largy, of Langley RCMP in a news release.
Art Ward, Kristina’s father, also said they’ve received many “phony tips.”
“That gets our hopes up a little bit and then we’re shot down. But somebody knows where Kristina is,” he said.
Kristina is now 25-years-old, but has the mental capacity of someone far younger.
She is described as Indigenous, 5’5″, 130 pounds, with curly brown hair, and brown eyes.
Her mother told CTV News back in 2019 she believes her daughter was misled and was abducted.
She and other loved ones are hosting their second annual walk through the area Ward was last seen on Tuesday morning.
“The good Lord gives us hope. It says on my hat, God is good all the time. Doesn’t let us down. He prolongs things, but doesn’t let us down,” Kristina’s father said.
The family is hoping to spark people’s memories and get more information about what happened to her.
“We are pleading to the public for tips to bring closure to the family and to bring Kristina back home, as she has a five-month old niece named after her, waiting at home to meet her auntie,” said Lee Anne Ward in a statement released by RCMP.
Baby Kristina’s mother, Jessica, was overcome with emotion during Tuesday’s walk.
She made a sign for her stroller reading “Please help find my Auntie Kristina Ward” covered with small pink hand prints.
She told CTV News Vancouver she believes the two Kristinas would be best friends.
“I know she’d be a good auntie,” she said.
Jessica spent 10 years on the Downtown Eastside, but has since been reunited with her family.
The Wards hope they’ll be able to have the same homecoming with their other daughter.
Kristina’s name has been added to the database list of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Anyone with information that might assist in locating Ward is asked to call Langley RCMP at 604-532-3200.
Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
