With hopes faint for finding missing Fredericton woman alive, son wants answers

Tyler Campbell-Stafford struggles to imaginea scenario where his mother could go more than two years without contacting him or his 12-year-old brother and still be alive.

Sometimes he entertains the thought that Kari Lynn Rose Campbell is out there somewhere perhapsthe victim of human traffickingand will oneday escape and show up at the apartment the threeshared on Fredericton's north side.

But Campbell-Stafford says he's come around to accepting he'll never see her again.

"I will say I get my moments of hope," hesaid.

"It's hard not to when there's been no body or anything, andit's like, oh, what if she were to just come knock on the door randomly, but at the same time, I don't think she's coming back."

Policefollowed 'several' leads

Campbell would have turned 41 on Oct. 1.

She was 38 when last seen outside a home on Lower Durham Road in Durham Bridge, about20 kilometres north of Fredericton, at 9 a.m. on Aug. 19, 2021, police say.

RCMP, who are handling the investigation, say she wasreported missing three days later, prompting a search of the Lower Durham Road area on Aug. 28 and 29, 2021.

WATCH | 'I said I love you as I was walking out the door '

A son searching for his missing mother

12 months ago

Duration 1:23

Tyler Campbell Staffords mother, Kari Campbell of Fredericton, has been missing for more than two years. Campbell spoke to CBC News about her in May.

In a news release last year, RCMPCpl. Kevin Jones said policebelieve she might be dead because of the time that's passed since anyone has heard from her.

The RCMP also say they have "followed up on several leads to try and locate her, but to date have been unsuccessful."

A caring mother

Campbell-Stafford lived with his mother up to the day she disappeared. He remembers her as a caring woman who "wouldn't hurt a fly."

At the same time, he said, she had a rough childhood, which later led to addictionswithdrugs and alcohol.

"She was actually on the methadone program for eight years when she went missing ... so she was definitely trying to work towards a better life," he said.

Campbell-Stafford said his last memory of his mother is from the day before she was last seen.

He said she'd bought a new cellphone and was eagerly showing him the camera and otherfeatures on it before he left the apartment to meet friends for dinner.

"I said, 'I love you' as I was walking out the door,and then I went out for supper and I came home, and I never seen her again."

Campbell-Stafford said police later told him she'd taken a taxi to a convenience store in Durham Bridge.

He said he tried calling and texting her on the day she was last seen but never got a response.

"My messages were delivering for the first day that she was missing,but then after that they stopped delivering, and then on the second day I called the police," he said.

CBC News asked the RCMP for an interview about the investigation but did not receive a response before deadline.

"No file is ever closed until it is solved, and our priority remains to locate Kari Lynn Rose Campbell,"Cpl. Kevin Jones said in a statement that was part of the news release inAugust.

Campbell is one of three women from Fredericton who havedisappeared in recent years.

Erin Brooks, a Wolastoqey woman from Sitansisk (St. Mary's First Nation), was last seen at the St. Mary's Smoke Shop on Dec. 27, 2021. Police say they believe she was the victim of homicide, but no other details have emerged.

The family of Teri-Lynn Wilson, 42, last heard from her on April 13. On Tuesday, Fredericton police said they believe she was the victim of foul play.

Life without knowing

A lot has changed in Campbell's life since August 2021.

Since his mother disappeared, he has graduated from high schooland become certified to work as a personal support worker, with hopes to go on to become a licensed practical nurse.

He said he's also spent vacation time travelling outside Canada and plans to visit Mexico next year.

He said hisworkand leisure timehave helped take his mind off wondering what happened to his mother, but he's still desperate for answers.

"There's a $15,000 reward for anyone who knows anything at all leading to a body or anything like a name that leads to an arrest, like anything at all," Campbell said.

"I don't think you ever really get closure unless you have the information knowing what happened."

Campbell was last seen wearing a grey sweater, blue jeans, blue Under Armour shoes, and carrying a brown purse.

She is about five feet two inches and120 pounds and has blue eyes, a butterfly tattoo on her leg and forearm, and a sun tattoo on her shoulder blade. When she vanished, she had medium-length brown hair.

Anyone with information about her disappearance is asked to call the Keswick RCMP at506-357-4300. Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers by calling1-800-222-8477.