When Chelsea Cardno didn’t show up to work on the morning of June 14, her best friend Josiah Crowell knew something was wrong.
“She loved being spontaneous and absolutely loves blasting music and dancing. Just a huge bubbly personality.”
The 31-year-old is the happiest she’s ever been and she loved her job.
“First and foremost she’s my best friend, and one of the other roles that we have is that we also work together,” Crowell mentioned. “I have a business in Orchard Park Mall and a videography/photography company in town…On [Tuesday] she was supposed to be clocked in at my store at the mall and at 10:30 a.m., the mall called me saying ‘hey, your store’s not open’.
That is when Crowell made the decision to call Chelsea in as a missing person. RCMP along with Central Okanagan Search and Rescue have been searching along Mission Creek in Rutland where she was last known to have been.
“I’ve known her for over 11 years,” Crowell told Capital News about their friendship.
Crowell said he tried calling and texting Chelsea, but with no luck before reaching out to her mom.
“Her mom told me last she saw her she was going to walk her dog around 8 a.m. leaving the house.”
Crowell noted that Chelsea has been doing well with her mental health and it is extremely out of character for her not to be in contact with friends and family.
Within an hour of reporting Chelsea missing, Crowell says police found her vehicle and a search was underway.
The search, however, has been suspended temporarily because of the weather,likely resuming on Saturday.
“I know that search and rescue have been really diligent in everything that they’ve done. I’ve been out with my girlfriend and a couple of friends… searching along the creek bed,” Crowell said. “The most troubling feeling, and I know I’m not the only one who has felt this way, is just kind of the feeling of helplessness and that, ‘do we search the creek, do we search the bushes, what do we do?’ The idea of just kind of sitting at home and waiting and hoping for some good news is just, you need to feel like you’re at least doing something.”
Crowell speculates Chelsea’s disappearance is related to her dog JJ, a 90-pound German shepherd puppy.
“If something happened with her dog and that creek, she wouldn’t have even thought twice about jumping in trying to save her dog.”
RCMP are looking to speak to anyone in the Mission Park or Greenway area that might have seen Chelsea or JJ. If you have any information, please call the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.crimestoppers.net.
