Missing Indigenous family speaks out in downtown East Side

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Rex Smallboy hasn’t heard from his son in 11 days.

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And he was “horrified” after hearing that the police would do nothing in a case involving people whose last known whereabouts were on the Downtown East Side.

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Police say 99% of people reported missing in the city each year are found safe, but families say people missing in DTES have fallen through cracks. I’m worried about

“My son has never gone missing,” said Rex Smallboy, who quit his entertainment job this week to look for his son. “He doesn’t have a cell phone. I usually call his support home every week to check on him.”

Darius was last seen by staff at the Broadway Youth Resource Center on November 3rd.

Since then, his father, two sisters, and aunt Jamie have pasted hundreds of posters of the 23-year-old’s face around DTES. He was last seen near the corner of Maine and Hastings where he was friends.

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Jamie Smallboy, a SisterWatch volunteer working with the Vancouver Police Department to address the DTES disappearance of an Indigenous woman, said:

“His family and friends haven’t seen or heard of him in days.”

This week, when Jamie was approached by a patrol officer sitting in his car, she was told that “many addicts don’t want to be found,” and Darius was probably out partying “on a binge.”

The family has asked the police to investigate The disappearance of Darius comes first.

As of Saturday, Darius was not among the 10 cases listed as unsolved missing persons on the Vancouver Police website.

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“All missing person reports are immediately investigated by patrol officers and a risk assessment is first completed,” Konst said. VPD’s Tania Vicintin.

“Each case is prioritized based on risk and investigated in a timely manner, especially when vulnerable people are involved.”

VPD has previously told the media that it considers several factors before publicly appealing information about missing persons.

“For example, if a person is suspected of being suicidal or of self-harm, making a public complaint is risky because it may turn suicidal thoughts into action. It’s possible,” Visintin said in October.

Rex Smallboy last spoke to his son a few days before he went missing and recalled that the “light” had returned to Darius’ eyes.

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“When he arrived he had blisters on the soles of his feet from walking around. I made sure he slept at my house for a few days to detox.”

When his son regained consciousness, his father said he told him about his recovery plan.

Darius agreed to undergo treatment for his painkiller addiction after undergoing surgery for a broken collarbone last year.

“He was a kid’s teacher who always boasted to me.

The duo had set Darius up with a treatment plan at a local Aboriginal clinic.

Since reporting his son missing, Smallboy said the VPD has not attempted to follow him up.

“After I told them about his problem with painkillers, they just told me to get an update.

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Natasha Harrison felt a similar loneliness while searching for her daughter, Tatiana, who went missing in May.

“She stopped texting me. That’s when I learned she was struggling again with the drugs she started using after experiencing trauma when she was 12.”

Vancouver police took over the case after a 20-year-old Richmond resident was found downtown. Harrison was able to get in touch directly with investigators to whom she could provide information.

However, she said the more her mother questioned the police about Tatiana’s case, the more stigmatized she was.

In a June 30 text message, a VPD investigator told the mother: A strange thing happened. We had a man who was missing for two years and legally presumed dead. He married and lived in Burnaby under a slightly different name. “

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“In the case of Tatiana, who I don’t know, it seems very unlikely, but it is impossible for us to find out because we do our own thing and live a life that you and I do not understand. There were also women who could

Harrison said she didn’t want other parents looking for their child at DTES to experience what she has.

In August, police informed her that Tatiana’s body had been found on an old yacht anchored in Richmond, weeks before the VPD took over the case. I was.

“The investigation continues as they did, and I can’t stand the idea that this is happening to anyone else.”

“She was bright and kind,” said the mother.

sgrochowski@postmedia.com