#ashley simpson

They have anaconda like features

A First Nations-led search party is hoping to find three missing women during a weekend walk in the B.C. Interior that will cover 118 kilometres from the Splatsin First Nation near Enderby to Sylix Territory near Kelowna.

The walkers will be looking for some sign of Caitlin Potts, Deanna Wertz and Ashley Simpson, who all went missing within months of each other in the North Okanagan last year.

Walk organizer Jody Leon says the three women all lived within 20 minutes of each other on Splatsin First Nation traditional territory.

Wertz, 46, and Simpson, 27, were living in and last seen alive on Yankee Flats Road near Salmon Arm. Simpson was reported missing on April 30, while Wertz disappeared on July 16.

Potts, 27, was last seen at Orchard Park Mall in Kelowna on Feb. 22, 2016.

“Two of them were neighbours. We definitely want the RCMP to look into how three women — who all live within 20 minutes of each other — could have all go missing.” said Leon.

Organizers are welcoming volunteer walkers along with others who can assist in the search by providing pilot cars, water, gas card donations or drones.

The event’s Facebook page has 450 members.

“People are coming from every direction to participate,” said Leon. “We had one deli come forward to say they will donate a sandwich to every single person who comes on the walk.”