Bring Her Home
Lisa Marie Youngmissing from Nanaimo since June 30, 2002
Lisa was 21 years old. She is a daughter, a sister, an auntie, and a friend to people from everywhere. Her family has never stopped looking, and they never will.
Lisa was 21 years old. She is a daughter, a sister, an auntie, and a friend to people from everywhere. Her family has never stopped looking, and they never will.
“Where are you? We miss you. We love you.”
The words of Lisa's eight year old niece, who paints cards to help bring her auntie home
Lisa Marie Young was born in Nanaimo on May 5, 1981, the eldest child and only daughter in her family, with two younger brothers. Through her mother's family she belongs to the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, a Nuu-chah-nulth community on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
She loved rollerblading along the waterfront. She kept herself fit and ate vegetarian. Her mother described her as independent and hard-working, with an inner strength all her own. Ask anyone who grew up in Nanaimo in those years and they will tell you the same thing her family does: Lisa knew people from everywhere. She was special that way.
Lisa leaves her parents' home to celebrate a friend's birthday. She and her friends spend the night at a club in downtown Nanaimo. She is relaxed, social, happy.
The club closes. Outside, a man Lisa and her friends had met that night offers the group a ride to a house party in his older model red Jaguar. They accept, and later move on to a second party.
Lisa is hungry, and the driver offers to take her to get food, a short trip. She tells her friends she will make her own way back. That is the last her friends and family see of her.
Lisa is not seen or heard from again. She is 21 years old.
The Nanaimo RCMP Serious Crime Unit believes Lisa met with foul play, and her disappearance is investigated as a homicide. Despite searches across the region over more than two decades, Lisa has never been found, and no one has ever been charged.
The reward is offered for information that leads to finding Lisa and bringing her home to her family. It is specifically for locating Lisa's remains. After all these years, someone knows where she is, and that can finally bring Lisa home. Please contact the Nanaimo RCMP.
On the night Lisa disappeared, she was last seen leaving with the man who had been driving her group of friends that night. He was later publicly identified in news reporting as Christopher William Adair.
Police have described him as a person of interest in Lisa's case. He has never been charged, and no one has ever been charged in Lisa's disappearance. If you knew him, travelled with him, or know anything about that night, please come forward to the Nanaimo RCMP.
For more than two decades, Lisa's family and the people of Nanaimo have kept her name alive. When missing posters were torn down, supporters put lawn signs on their own properties. Her face travels the city on a transit bus. A cherry blossom tree, dedicated to Lisa with a plaque by the water, holds her place until she comes home.
Lisa's story is part of the national crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The red dress and the red hand stand for Lisa and for every stolen sister. Her family marches so that no other family has to walk this road alone.
Each year, the City of Nanaimo proclaims a day of justice for Lisa Marie Young, and June 30 is “Lights on for Lisa,” when porch lights burn through the night so Lisa can find her way home.
Lisa's birthday, and Red Dress Day, the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The same date. Wear red for Lisa.
Justice for Lisa Marie Young Day, proclaimed by the City of Nanaimo. The date is set anew each year, a day for the community to stand with Lisa's family.
Lights on for Lisa. On the anniversary of her disappearance, leave your porch light on through the night.
Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Lisa's story is part of this truth.
Every June 30, porch lights and candles burn through the night across Nanaimo, so Lisa can find her way home.
In 2026, the national documentary series Taken told Lisa's story from coast to coast, the first time her disappearance has been the subject of a full episode. Made by an Indigenous-led team, it honours Lisa and the people who have never stopped looking for her.
Lisa's niece and nephew, eight year old twins, hand-paint the thank you cards the family sends to the people who help search. Hundreds of them. Their auntie went missing long before they were born, and still they make cards, because in this family nobody gives up. A book about Lisa's story, Where is Lisa Marie Young?: A Family's Fight to Bring Her Home, is on its way to readers.
The thank you cards and bookmarks are printed now, built from the children's own artwork, so the family's gratitude can reach everyone who helps search. They go out at gatherings and in the mail, carrying the work of two young artists to the people who keep looking for Lisa. Some still carry a hand-painted touch. Nothing here is sold. These are the family's to give.
Every June 30, the night Lisa never made it home, people across the Island and far beyond leave a light on for her. Candles in windows, porch lights, lanterns by the water. Light the way for her now.
No detail is too small, and it is never too late. Call the Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345 and speak with the officers on Lisa's file. Information goes to them, on the record. A $50,000 reward is offered for information that leads to locating Lisa's remains, so her family can bring her home.
Every June 30, turn your porch light on through the night. Lights on for Lisa, so she can find her way home. See the lights left for her.
Share this site. Talk about Lisa. Wear red on May 5. Use our ready to share images for Facebook, Instagram, and stories. The more people who carry her name, the closer she comes to home.
Follow the family's search on Facebook, join community events in Nanaimo, and wear red on May 5 for Lisa and for every missing and murdered Indigenous woman and girl.
Lisa Marie Young is a young woman from Nanaimo, British Columbia who went missing on June 30, 2002 at the age of 21. Her family has never stopped searching for her.
Lisa disappeared in Nanaimo on the night of June 30, 2002 and has never been found. Anyone with information can call the Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345.
Yes. A $50,000 reward is offered for information that leads to locating Lisa's remains, so her family can bring her home.
Call the Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345 with any information, share her story, leave a light on every June 30, and wear red on May 5 for Lisa and for every missing and murdered Indigenous woman and girl.
Yes. The book Where is Lisa Marie Young?: A Family's Fight to Bring Her Home is available to pre-order, and the national documentary series Taken told Lisa's story in Season 5, Episode 2.
