Ross River woman still missing after intense weekend search

Everyone in Ross River, Yukon, knows Ramona Peter.

This makes the 40-year-old woman's disappearance from the small community that much more puzzling.

"Where would she be?" asks Maria Eshleman, Peter's auntie.

"That's just one of the questions that I want to know. I just feel that she's still here. And I'm not talking about Ross River, I'm just talking about here, on this earth."

Several community members of Ross River Dena Council, along with the RCMP and the Yukon Search and Rescue (YSAR) team, conducted a search of Ross River located 400 kilometres north of Whitehorse on Saturday, hoping to find Peter.

The joint operation was unsuccessful, but the community continues to hope for her return. Some clothing items, including a coat, were found over the weekend.

"It's not clear if that's actually her coat or not," Staff Sgt. Kent Langley told CBC on Sunday.

"That's one thing that the members have conducted some inquiries ... speaking to family members and trying to get a firm idea as to whether or not that was her coat or not. But we don't have anything conclusive on that at this point."

A 'contagious smile'

All who spoke with CBC describe Peter the same way a kind woman with a contagious smile.

She can usually be seen either walking her now-deceased dog Lucky, or standing near the Dena General Store on main street; a "homebody who didn't like to leave the community" unless it was an emergency, according to Eshleman.

On April 28, Peter was reported missing to police. Several community members say she was last seen on April 21, in front of the Dena General store.

Eshleman is one of the community members who knows the missing woman best. When Peter was 15, Eshleman took her in and raised her as her own daughter.

"She calls me mom," Eshleman said, explaining that Peter's mother also disappeared several years ago.

"She was really ... very feisty. It took me a long time to break through that. It was really, really a challenge. I didn't give up on her."

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Eshleman joined one of YSAR's teams on Saturday, along with Dylan Loblaw, chief of the Ross River Dena Council.

Loblaw says the search was called as the community has no lead or information about Peter's whereabouts. The operation included going door-to-door, in case Peter was held against her will.

"Right now, we're hoping for the best, we're preparing for the worst," Loblaw said. "A lot of women are vulnerable in our community."

For Roberta Dick, one of the councillors of the Ross River Dena Council, it's impossible to talk about Peter's disappearance without talking about women's safety.

Dick, who's been deeply involved in the search, says the incident has taken a toll on her mental health. She says she now wonders what she can do to protect women including her daughters.

"I feel like I failed," said Dick, who's also Peter's second cousin.

"We should have done more to protect the people," she added, referring to Peter's cousin who was murdered in 1996 in Ross River.

What's next?

President of Yukon Search and Rescue Jason Hudson says there are several challenges to this search, including the vastness of the land.

Hudson says the search could be expanded beyond Ross River, but that depends on more leads.

"We need information in order to know where to look," Hudson said. "You have to have something that draws you to a certain area."

The current lack of information about her whereabouts doesn't mean the search is over, Hudson said, as he shared his hope for finding the missing woman.

"Anything is possible because we've been fooled more than once," he said. "We just keep an open mind and hope for the best."

Police and YSAR are asking for anyone who has seen or spoken to Peter since April 21 to come forward or contact Crime Stoppers at 867-667-6715 or at www.crimestoppersyukon.ca.