EARLY LIFE:
Roxanne Elaine Fleming was born Rosanne Darcy Copeland in 1964. A member of British Columbia’s N’Quatqua Band, she was put up for adoption just a few months after she was born and placed in the care of a family not from the First Nations community.
Growing up, she was known as a vibrant girl who took everyone at face value.
When she was 17 years old, she gave birth to her daughter, Candice, who was taken from her care by the British Columbia Ministry of Child and Family Development. So as to not lose contact with her daughter, she asked her friend, Bonnie McDonald, to adopt Candice, which she did when the little girl was two years old.
In April 1982, Roxanne lost her partner in a work-related accident.
DISAPPEARANCE:
Roxanne was last seen checking herself into Lillooet District Hospital on August 23, 1982. She was seeking treatment for a broken finger.
She was reported missing in October 2003 by her adoptive parents.
INVESTIGATION:
Following her mother being reported missing, Candice was contacted by investigators with the Langley detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The case was reopened by RCMP investigators in Lillooet on January 21, 2015. They released an age-progression photo of Roxanne to the media. While in charge of the investigation, they kept in constant contact with Candice.
In September 2018, Candice was informed the case has been transferred to the Edmonton Police Service, as the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) had contact with Roxanne in Alberta between 1986 and 1987. As such, her profile with the RCMP now lists her missing as of December 15, 1986 from Edmonton, Alberta.
Since her disappearance, investigators have followed up on several leads and possible sightings and have tested Roxanne’s DNA against other missing people in British Columbia. Nothing has led them to her location. They are currently trying to establish a better timeline of her last-known movements and are looking to speak with anyone who may have come into contact with her following her leaving Lillooet District Hospital in 1982.
AFTERMATH:
Candice has no memories of her mother, as she was just an infant at the time of her disappearance.
In April 2018, Candice spoke before the National Inquiry into the nation’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. She hadn’t planned on participating, due to how much it would cost to travel to where the hearing was being held, but a friend convinced her to attend.
CASE CONTACT INFORMATION:
Roxanne Elaine Fleming went missing from Lillooet District Hospital in Lillooet, British Columbia on August 23, 1982. She was 18 years old, and what she was last seen wearing is currently unknown. At the time of her disappearance, she had a slender build, standing between 5’1″ and 5’4″ and weighing 128 to 130 pounds. She has dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a tattoo of a rose and stem on an unknown location of her body.
She goes by the following aliases: Roze Elaine Stevenson, Roze Darcy Stevenson, Roseanne Stevenson, Roseanne D’arcy Copeland, Roseanne D’arcy and Roseanne D’arcy Copeland.
She is known to frequent Lillooet, Vancouver, Kamloops, Edmonton and Red Deer.
Currently, her case is classified as a missing persons investigation. If alive, she would be 57 or 58 years old.
Those with information regarding the case are asked to contact the Edmonton Police Service at 780-423-4567 or the Lillooet detachment of the RCMP at 250-256-4244. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Image Credit: Edmonton Police Service
Stories of the Unsolved 