Cole Hosack was only supposed to be in Dawson Creek, B.C., for a few days.
The 24-year-old was travelling over the holidays from Prince George, B.C., to Medicine Hat, Alta., to start a new job. He was with a friend who has family in Dawson Creek, so they stopped in town to celebrate on New Year’s Eve.
He went to a bar on Dec. 31 and hasn’t been heard from since.
“My worst fear right now is not finding him for the next 30 years,” his mother Julie Hosack said in an interview with CBC News.
Hosack organized a community search for her son on Monday, saying she’s been frustrated by a lack of communication from RCMP.
But she’s also worried about something else: that many people in Dawson Creek — a city in the Peace River region around 740 kilometres north of Vancouver and 20 kilometres from the Alberta border that has a population of 12,000 — seem afraid to say anything out of fear they could become targets amid a rise in violent, street-level crime in the region.
“People are scared there because of all that’s transpiring,” she said. “A lot of people do not want to get involved.”
Rise in gang activity, gun violence
According to RCMP, Hosack was last seen in the area of the Lonestar Nightlife around 12:20 a.m. local time on Jan. 1.
The day prior, officers found a body inside a car a few blocks from the same location, which is now being investigated as a suspicious death.
And on Jan. 8, one person was killed in the community of Fort St. John, around 65 kilometres northwest, when four vehicles were involved in a shooting and subsequent car chase.
Bullets also went into a residence unrelated to the shooting, though no injuries were reported.
Kaylee Lindberg has partnered with Conservative MP Bob Zimmer to petition the House of Commons to take more action on violent and gang-related activity in northern B.C. (Facebook/Bob Zimmer)
Though RCMP haven’t linked any of the cases, they have reported a rise in gang-related violence in the region — so much so that additional officers from the province’s Uniform Gang Enforcement Team have been deployed to the area to support local police.
That call was made after Dawson Creek registered five separate calls for gun-related violence in November, leading to rising fears among residents.
Police said while many of the cases appear to be targeted, they are still concerned for public safety.
Hosack worries people are assuming her son was somehow involved with local gang activity, despite not having any connections to the city.
“Cole’s never been to Dawson, he doesn’t know anyone in Dawson, he was simply stopping through,” she said.
Deaths and disappearances
Hosack isn’t alone in worrying about a loved one who has gone missing from Dawson Creek. There are currently four high-profile missing person cases in the community, all opened within the last year.
Two of the missing people are cousins: Darylyn Supernant, 29, missing since March 15, and Renee Didier (Supernant), 41, last seen Dec. 2. Both women are Cree, according to family, who said they are not believed to have the same social circles.
Early reports said Didier was last seen at the same nightclub as Cole Hosack, but police have since clarified she was later spotted on gas station surveillance footage from Dec. 3.
Missing cousins Darylyn Supernant, left, and Renee Didier (Supernant). Supernant is described as five feet four inches tall, 119 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen March 15, 2023. Didier is described as five feet 10 inches tall, 120 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen Dec. 3, 2023. (Dawson Creek RCMP)
After Cole Hosack, the fourth missing person is Dave Daniel Domingo, a 24-year-old believed to have been in a rural area near Dawson Creek on Aug. 29 when police responded to reports of a possible shooting, though little information has been released.
In addition, at least four homicides were recorded in 2023, according to a review of media releases from police.
When asked for a full tally, Dawson Creek RCMP Const. Emma Baron said she was unable to answer because suspicious death investigations are handled by the force’s North District Major Crime Unit, which will not share the information.
‘A lot of people in Dawson Creek are on edge’
Kaylee Lindberg says she’s frustrated by what seems to be a sharp increase in violence in the community where she grew up.
An employee at a local school, she was with a group of kids outside last fall when shots started ringing out a few blocks away. That followed an incident over the summer in which someone was fatally stabbed near her home.
“I’m getting worried about just going for a walk,” she said. “Everybody I talk to is feeling the same thing.”