0:01

What is going on true

0:03

crime fans? I'm your host Tith and

0:05

I'm your host Daphne and you're listening

0:19

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0:21

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0:23

have a super important story today. Every

0:26

story is important, but this one in

0:28

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0:30

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0:32

bizarre case. It is a missing and

0:34

murdered indigenous woman case out of Canada.

0:36

I know we don't really venture out

0:39

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0:41

Going West. We usually save that for real

0:43

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0:45

make this a bonus episode on our real

0:47

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0:49

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0:52

needs a lot more answers than it

0:54

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0:56

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0:58

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1:01

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1:25

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1:27

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2:57

In March of 2020, a 23-year-old

2:59

indigenous woman went missing while taking

3:02

a walk outside her Haida Gwaii,

3:04

BC home. Despite

3:08

the fact that she had confided in

3:10

loved ones about having a stalker,

3:13

her case received very little attention

3:15

due to the beginning of the

3:17

COVID-19 pandemic. But

3:21

what really happened to her? Does

3:23

someone in her community hold the key?

3:32

This is the story of

3:34

Shilana Brown. Shilana

3:45

Megan Lewis Brown was born

3:47

in April of 1997 in Haida

3:50

Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada.

3:53

The daughter of Monica and Alan, she

3:55

grew up in the small indigenous island

3:57

village of Old Masset, which her

4:00

two brothers, Quentin and Gavin.

4:03

Brown-haired, brown-eyes, shalana

4:05

was part of a very spiritual family

4:07

who were part of the Haida indigenous

4:10

nation. The Haida people

4:12

have been occupying the Haida Gwaii

4:14

archipelago off the coast of British

4:16

Columbia for between 6,000 and 8,000

4:18

years, with

4:21

the land being known as the place

4:23

where time began per Haida

4:26

legend. The notoriously

4:28

isolated islands have been affectionately

4:30

referred to as the northern Galapagos

4:33

for their biodiversity and difficult

4:35

travel conditions, and the islands

4:37

can only be reached by

4:39

sea or air. There's actually

4:41

a 6-8 hour ferry, just depending on

4:43

the weather, that can be taken from

4:46

Prince Rupert, British Columbia to

4:48

Haida Gwaii, which looks absolutely

4:51

beautiful. The archipelago is

4:53

made up of around 1,000

4:56

different small islands, with the vast

4:58

majority of people being concentrated on

5:00

the two main islands, Graham and

5:02

Moresby, as those two are the

5:04

only islands with roads. Shalana's

5:07

town, which is Old Masset and

5:09

located on Graham Island, was much

5:11

smaller, with a population of only

5:13

around 800 people. So

5:15

the only way in or out of the

5:18

island is through a ferry in the town

5:20

of Skidiget, which is some 60 miles

5:23

away from Old Masset, and

5:25

the island has no public

5:27

transportation, making Old Masset a

5:29

very small town where everyone

5:31

knows everyone, and that's where

5:34

today's story takes place. So

5:37

yeah, it's just a good thing to remember that

5:39

this is a very small and rural area anyway,

5:41

but again, the fact that the closest ferry to

5:43

get off the island is 60 miles

5:46

away, just definitely puts

5:48

it into perspective. So

5:50

the Haida are a fairly small

5:53

ethnic group, with a dwindling population

5:55

in Canada. Haida Gwaii's population as of

5:57

2021 was around 5,500

6:01

people with the Haida population on the island

6:03

being around half of them. While

6:06

there is no established scientific theory,

6:08

according to the oral tradition told

6:10

by the Haida chief Albert Edward

6:13

Edenshaw, the Haida people came from

6:15

northern Alaska before traveling to Haida

6:17

Gwaii while looking for new territory.

6:21

The islands were formerly known as

6:23

the Queen Charlotte Islands, the name

6:25

being one of the many ghosts

6:27

of colonialism that continue to haunt

6:29

Canada and its native peoples. But

6:32

the name was changed in 2010 in order

6:34

to highlight and celebrate the Haida people. Chelanah

6:37

was part of a dance group that

6:39

embraced local native cultural traditions, which she

6:42

absolutely loved, especially because she had been

6:44

dancing since she was a child, and

6:46

she became lead dancer when she was

6:48

just 10 years old. She

6:52

was a mass dancer in the group

6:54

and always worked hard to become better

6:56

every single day, making dance practice a

6:58

regular part of her routine. So

7:01

much of Chelanah's life revolved around her

7:03

peoples traditions and becoming more in tune

7:05

with them. Chelanah

7:08

also worked as a camp coordinator

7:10

for the Rediscovery Camp on Graham

7:12

Island, where she helped kids

7:15

and elders alike with reconnecting and

7:17

rediscovering their indigenous roots. While

7:20

her family was deeply entrenched in

7:22

cultural native traditions, Chelanah

7:24

was a free thinker, oftentimes

7:27

questioning and confronting her mother Monica's

7:29

at times non-native friendly beliefs by

7:31

saying, quote, do you really think

7:33

that mom or are you just

7:36

colonized? But their relationship

7:38

was loving and trusting, and they knew that

7:40

they could always confide in each other. Especially

7:44

since Chelanah unfortunately did not have the luxury

7:46

of turning to her father for advice because

7:48

he passed away when she was seven years

7:50

old, which made her lean on her mom

7:52

a lot more. Chelanah

7:55

was not only creative in her pursuit

7:57

of dancing, but also was an avid

7:59

writer. logging multiple entries in

8:01

not only her journal, but also

8:03

her laptop. She was just a 23

8:06

year old woman trying her best

8:08

to live a full, passionate life

8:11

in a small town when she

8:13

mysteriously disappeared. Prior

8:15

to Shalana's disappearance, she confided in

8:18

her family that she felt as

8:20

though she was being stalked, her

8:22

family was being harassed, and

8:25

just that she felt unsafe in her

8:27

small island community. While

8:30

the small town atmosphere would leave

8:32

few possibilities as to who was

8:34

to blame, she never exclusively told

8:36

her mother Monica who she was

8:38

talking about, like who was stalking

8:40

her and threatening her and her

8:42

family. But feeling unsafe

8:44

and anxious about the whole situation,

8:46

she turned to her creative endeavors

8:49

to find some peace and tried

8:51

to persevere regardless. Unfortunately,

8:54

as it was March of 2020, the COVID-19

8:57

pandemic was really taking effect. So

8:59

meeting up with friends or going

9:01

to a public place to try to

9:03

get away from her troubles wasn't something she was

9:05

really able to do, even

9:08

in an isolated community like hers,

9:10

because British Columbia issued

9:12

a province-wide state of

9:14

emergency on March 18th, which

9:17

is really about the time that everybody

9:19

was doing that across the world. Yeah,

9:22

absolutely. Daphne and I were living here

9:24

in LA during that time, and

9:26

I think it was March 18th or March 19th. Yeah,

9:29

it was during that week,

9:31

everybody was just shutting down, and that

9:34

was the same for her small community,

9:36

again, because it was province-wide. So

9:38

what she was able to do and what

9:40

she kind of focused on were taking

9:43

long morning walks by the water,

9:45

and this was quickly becoming a

9:47

common part of her daily routine,

9:49

which she was really enjoying. She

9:51

would go walking and find a quiet,

9:54

calm spot where she could sit and

9:56

reflect and do one of her favorite

9:58

things right. On

10:01

her Facebook page a post from

10:03

March 20th 2020 so two days

10:05

after the state of emergency was

10:07

issued She posted a photo

10:09

that showed a common morning walk scene

10:12

Shillana was wearing an olive green hoodie

10:14

with the hood on Throwing a

10:16

peace sign to the camera and her lips were pursed

10:18

almost like she's kind of like blowing a kiss to

10:21

the camera and then Her laptop

10:23

is on her lap So kind of

10:25

imagine raising your left arm a little bit

10:27

and taking a selfie of you and then

10:29

your lap and you can kind of See that

10:31

she is just sitting in nature. It

10:34

looks like a really great spot Looks like she

10:36

was having a nice peaceful time She

10:38

was wearing headphones probably listening to music

10:40

and no doubt writing something in

10:42

her journal when she took the photo Which

10:45

is up on our socials for you guys to see

10:48

The photo boasts a sunny spot so we

10:50

can picture her just enjoying the warm

10:52

rays on a chilly winter day

10:55

She had found this great spot in the Sun

10:58

So after writing for a while she eventually

11:00

returned home to the house that she lived

11:02

in with her mother Monica and her brothers

11:06

This truly was a day like

11:08

any other ending around 10 30 p.m By

11:12

Shillana sorta apologizing to her

11:14

mother for the stress about her alleged

11:16

stalker She said

11:18

that she was sorry for quote bringing

11:20

so much trouble around and

11:22

her mother Monica comforted her by saying

11:24

quote Trouble has always been

11:26

here Shillana said

11:29

good night to her brothers her mother

11:31

and then went to bed Now

11:34

the following day which was March 21st 2020 Shillana

11:38

woke up like any other morning,

11:40

but this time earlier than her

11:43

whole family She got

11:45

ready for her usual morning walk, and then

11:47

she left her home before any of her

11:49

relatives could notice Her

11:52

cell phone for whatever reason was left

11:54

behind So Neither

11:56

Her mother nor her brothers could communicate with

11:58

her all day. Selena.

12:01

Was twenty three at the time, so

12:03

the decision to leave her phone at

12:05

home was definitely an uncommon one. And.

12:08

One that is still questioned. Unfortunately,

12:11

given the mystery around the situation, is

12:14

it simply unknown whether it was common

12:16

for Selena to leave her phone at

12:18

home. Since. We know that she would

12:20

bring her electronics in general. I eat her

12:22

laptop to write. Or. Just another

12:25

coincidence that took place that day.

12:27

And not to harp on this too much,

12:29

but I feel like knowing that she was

12:31

afraid for her safety and noticing those wired

12:34

earbuds and of her ears and that laptop

12:36

photo that we talked about that was taken

12:38

just the day before this. I can't imagine

12:40

that she would have left it on. Purpose

12:43

like she loves it listening to music

12:45

during her walk. So this is a

12:47

really weird detail. the on this freak

12:49

particular day, she left her phone at

12:51

home. Yeah, and it's it's It almost

12:54

seems like feet when you think about

12:56

it because. I think all

12:58

of us have probably accidentally left our

13:00

cell phone at home. You. Know

13:02

before at least a few times I

13:04

have personally but. You. Know this

13:07

particular day. Why did that. Happen.

13:09

You know what we can talk about? This. Later

13:11

to when you guys are aware of

13:13

more details in this case bless I

13:15

almost wonder if this. Happened on this

13:17

day because she didn't have her phone

13:19

and had to resort to getting a

13:22

ride from somebody. It's or something along

13:24

those lines which again we're going to

13:26

discuss but it almost. Makes me wonder

13:28

if this was part of the cause.

13:31

Well. After her mother notice that she

13:33

didn't come home that night, Selena

13:35

was reported missing to local police.

13:38

So. Much of what happened to Selena

13:40

Brown is shrouded in mystery. That.

13:42

It's difficult at times to establish

13:45

a clear timeline, and by consequence,

13:47

a narrative. But. There were

13:49

two a legit sightings of the

13:51

Five Foot Three one hundred and

13:53

seventy pounds so Lana. One.

13:56

of them was in an area on the

13:58

outskirts of mass it called pure Lake around

14:00

5.15 PM. And

14:03

remember, she left on her walk in

14:05

the morning. So, you know, basically the

14:07

entire day had passed before this sighting.

14:10

And another happened in Port Clemens, which

14:12

is an area about 15 miles

14:14

south of Pier Lake. A

14:17

witness claims to have seen Chellana

14:19

walking along a stretch of Highway

14:21

16 in Old Masset. Now,

14:23

as Daphne mentioned earlier, there is no

14:26

public transportation in Haida Gwaii. So, Chellana

14:28

had no way of reaching wherever it

14:30

was that she was spotted via a

14:33

bus, train, or any sort of communal

14:35

transportation, which means that she either would

14:37

have had to walk all that way

14:40

or she had hitched a ride. Chellana

14:43

also did not have a driver's license, so

14:45

driving to wherever it was that she was

14:48

going was definitely not a possibility. Yeah,

14:50

and it's unfortunately really common for

14:53

local Indigenous people to not have

14:55

driver's licenses in the area thanks

14:57

to several barriers getting in their

14:59

way, like such as difficulty accessing

15:02

vision care or not having the

15:04

needed identification or even something as

15:06

trivial as not having access to

15:08

mechanics in order to make sure

15:10

cars are suitable for a driver's test.

15:13

So that just made it really hard

15:15

for Chellana to get around. Yeah, exactly.

15:17

And locals commented on an Instagram page

15:19

created to help find Chellana that

15:22

they were astounded that she would

15:24

walk that far with all sightings

15:26

placing her south of Massed, the

15:29

closest one putting her over 15 miles

15:32

away from home, which, you know, would

15:34

have been at least a five-hour walk.

15:36

Right. So even though it's

15:38

definitely possible that she could have walked,

15:40

given all those factors, it's most

15:42

likely that Chellana hitchhiked to wherever it

15:45

was that she was spotted on Highway

15:47

16. But why

15:49

she would have done that isn't clear.

15:51

And that's why I had brought this

15:53

up just a few minutes ago, actually, that

15:56

if she accidentally left her phone,

15:58

maybe when she did realize she didn't

16:01

want to turn back and thought, hey, I'm going

16:03

to clear my head not listen to music today.

16:05

I'm just going to listen to nature and keep

16:07

going. And then I'll walk home. I do this all the time.

16:10

And then maybe she got too far

16:12

and realized that the best way to

16:14

get back was to hitchhike. And

16:17

because that was such a common thing to

16:19

do, if that is what occurred, maybe she

16:21

didn't think that it would be dangerous or

16:23

lead to something. But then it

16:25

did that. That's where it seems like this is

16:27

going. And actually, while

16:30

there's no exact consensus of the

16:32

location of her sightings, they all

16:34

happened along a specific stretch of

16:36

Highway 16, a

16:38

stretch that bears a very dark

16:40

past and truly a

16:43

very dark present. Yes, because that

16:45

specific stretch of the highway is

16:48

locally referred to as the Highway of

16:50

Tears due to the unfortunately

16:52

high number of crimes against

16:54

an inordinate number of missing

16:56

and murdered indigenous women that

16:59

have taken place in that area. So

17:02

beginning in 1970, the 400 mile corridor of Highway 16

17:04

connecting Prince Rupert and Prince

17:08

George in British Columbia has

17:11

been the location of far too many

17:13

violent crimes against women, the total number

17:15

of victims being up for debate to

17:17

this day. The

17:20

Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the RCMP

17:22

claims the number to be fewer than

17:24

18 women, while

17:26

several aboriginal organizations believe the number of

17:28

murdered and missing women to be higher

17:31

than 40. The

17:33

enduring nature of the crimes

17:35

and the challenges in identifying

17:37

perpetrators can be attributed to

17:39

an immense web of socioeconomic

17:42

factors. For example, poverty plays

17:44

a massive role in perpetuating

17:46

these crimes. It not

17:48

only contributes to limited resources for

17:50

law enforcement, but also fosters

17:53

an environment where residents face

17:55

extreme vulnerability. Substance

17:58

abuse only worsens the issue. creating

18:00

a backdrop of high risk and making

18:02

it challenging to break the cycle of

18:04

crime. And a very

18:06

tragic and in this case key

18:08

consequence of poverty is the low

18:11

rates of car ownership and limited

18:13

mobility within these communities. And

18:15

then as a result, hitchhiking, which

18:17

as we know can be extremely

18:19

dangerous, becomes not just a mode

18:21

of travel, but a necessity for

18:24

individuals trying their best to traverse

18:26

huge distances to connect with family

18:28

or get to work or

18:30

pursue any type of education or

18:33

access much needed medical services, putting

18:35

them completely at the mercy of

18:37

the driver who stops for them.

18:40

The lack of viable public transportation

18:43

options, especially the absence of bus

18:45

services linking most northern communities

18:47

with urban centers, only

18:50

worsens the transportation challenges faced

18:52

by the residents of Haida

18:54

Gwaii. So as you can

18:56

imagine, the failure of the

18:58

British Columbia provincial government to

19:00

establish reasonable alternatives to hitchhiking

19:02

just aggravates the vulnerability of

19:04

those who need to travel

19:06

and have no other options.

19:09

And that really is why the

19:11

Highway of Tears is what it

19:13

is because of the complete lack

19:16

of accessible transportation options. It just

19:18

leaves people with no choice but

19:20

to put themselves in precarious situations,

19:22

making them easy targets for criminals

19:24

and predators. And that

19:26

could very well be what happened in

19:28

Chelan's case. Absolutely. And also

19:31

the high amount of domestic violence

19:33

in these communities contributes to an

19:35

overall environment of insecurity and fear,

19:38

especially for women. The

19:40

detachment from traditional culture is

19:42

another factor that underscores the

19:45

systemic challenges faced by the

19:47

affected population. And

19:50

the destabilization of family structures

19:52

stems from shameful historical practices

19:55

such as foster care and

19:57

Canadian Indian residential school systems.

20:00

And actually, Shalana's mother Monica

20:02

was a student in the

20:04

regrettable Indigenous residential school programs

20:06

in Canada, so the traumas

20:08

are just all too close to home. But

20:11

given all of this, the Highway

20:14

of Tears is unfortunately the perfect

20:16

place for a woman, particularly Indigenous,

20:18

to go missing. Activists

20:21

assert that the media has provided

20:23

limited coverage to these cases, contending

20:26

that there is a perceived devaluation

20:28

of Indigenous women in the media.

20:31

Despite the disappearances spanning back

20:33

to 1970, it wasn't until

20:35

2005 that the Royal Canadian

20:37

Mounted Police started a task

20:39

force to examine similarities among

20:41

these cases. 35 years plus.

20:45

Yeah. And notably, Nicole Hoare,

20:47

who was a white woman that vanished

20:50

in 2002, garnered a

20:52

disproportionate amount of media attention.

20:55

And she was actually the first

20:57

among the Highway of Tears cases

20:59

to be featured in prominent outlets,

21:01

such as The Globe and Mail,

21:03

Vancouver Sun and Edmonton Journal. And

21:06

just to put the roads danger into

21:08

perspective, the Highway of Tears, Highway 16, here

21:11

are some startling figures. So just

21:13

12 days before Shalana

21:16

went missing, a woman,

21:18

62-year-old Joy Morris, was

21:20

found dead by the Highway of

21:22

Tears. And since Shalana's disappearance on

21:25

March 21st, 2020, five

21:27

women have been murdered on that

21:29

same stretch of the Highway of

21:31

Tears with the latest being in

21:33

October of 2023. And

21:36

we're recording this episode in late February of 2024.

21:40

So the thought of Shalana hitchhiking in

21:42

that extremely dangerous area is troubling, to

21:44

say the least. And although we don't

21:46

know if that is where she was

21:49

met with trouble, it's hard not

21:51

to consider. Shalana's disappearance

21:53

on March 21st, 2020, cast

21:56

a horrible shadow over her

21:58

small, tight-knit community. unfortunately

22:00

coinciding with a global pandemic brought

22:03

about by the spread of COVID-19.

22:07

The pandemic, with its fear and

22:09

uncertainty, added a layer of

22:11

complexity to the already unsettling

22:13

situation. And as

22:15

news of Chelanah's disappearance broke, her

22:18

community found itself grappling with the

22:20

dual challenges of searching for a

22:22

missing member amidst the global health

22:24

crisis. Many of the elders

22:26

in the already small Haida community were

22:29

afraid to venture out and become sick,

22:31

so the widespread fear of COVID

22:34

prompted a hesitancy to be out

22:36

and about, especially in large groups.

22:39

Which is what's typical and preferred when

22:41

searching for a missing person, especially

22:44

in such rural terrain. The

22:47

heightened concerns for safety and the

22:49

need to follow health guidelines made

22:51

the search efforts extremely challenging, not

22:54

only for locals, but also for

22:56

local law enforcement. And

22:58

despite all of this, police were luckily

23:00

able to act quickly in their efforts

23:03

to find Chelanah, and very early on,

23:05

they utilized helicopters in order to conduct

23:07

an air search for her, hoping

23:09

to find some trace of where she had gone.

23:12

But unfortunately, to no avail.

23:16

And yet another effort was their use of

23:18

search dogs along the highway of tears, knowing

23:20

that she had been spotted there by two

23:22

different people at two different points in the

23:25

evening. I mean,

23:27

they were out there desperately searching for

23:29

Chelanah, tracking the scent from clothing provided

23:31

to police by her mother Monica. But

23:35

again, unfortunately, nothing

23:37

of note was found. Now,

23:39

despite the pandemic, some individuals bravely

23:41

ventured out immediately to look for

23:43

Chelanah, just driven by a sense

23:45

of urgency to find this young

23:47

fellow member of their community, and

23:49

others who were more mindful of

23:52

the risks associated with the pandemic,

23:54

joined the search when circumstances allowed,

23:56

trying to find a balance between

23:58

the urgency of the situation and

24:00

the situation. the need to prioritize

24:02

their own personal and communal safety.

24:04

The community. Is typically closely connected.

24:06

Was rocked by the news of

24:09

Salinas disappearance, especially since they were

24:11

a small town in a very

24:13

it's you know everyone knows everyone

24:15

atmosphere so they just couldn't fathom

24:17

how this could have happened and

24:19

why. And of course now they're

24:22

think in his someone amongst. Us

24:24

responsible for this guy. If you're in

24:26

a community where everybody knows everybody, You.

24:29

Would imagine that somebody in that

24:31

small community is probably responsible. Exactly.

24:34

So then of course, with this

24:36

rumors kind of start to swirl,

24:38

people start talking and a lot

24:40

of people claim that she must

24:43

have been taken, while others said

24:45

that she probably purposefully went into

24:47

hiding. but most believe that something

24:49

bad had happened. So. They

24:51

persevered looking for one of their own,

24:53

even if it meant it may bring

24:55

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27:31

the Reddit posts and Arizona's unsolved.

27:33

Mysteries at several Redditors. While

27:35

these speculate over what could have

27:37

happened to Selena Brown and given the

27:40

anonymous nature of the internet, there

27:42

is no way to confirm any ones'

27:44

accounts of what took place. Obviously,

27:46

however, a user by the name of

27:48

Forsaken Concept Twenty One I was

27:50

seven claim to be a part of

27:53

the local. Search parties for

27:55

Selena saying quote. I

27:57

was part of the search. When Selena was

27:59

first disk. missing. Items

28:01

of hers were found scattered on

28:03

the back forest roads including her

28:05

backpack and undergarments. There are

28:08

theories as to why she may have left

28:10

in the first place but as far as

28:12

I know the family believes foul play is

28:14

involved. It's hard to get

28:16

off the island without being spotted by

28:19

someone who would recognize you especially as

28:21

a local and it's very hard to

28:23

hide yourself especially on such a small

28:25

island. I hope so badly

28:28

she's out there and unharmed but the

28:30

circumstances don't exactly point to that.

28:33

So yeah good to potentially get a locals

28:36

you know point of view on that knowing

28:38

that if somebody did this and tried to

28:40

get off the island with her they would

28:42

have been recognized which isn't a very smart

28:45

thing if you're trying to escape after you

28:47

did something wrong right? Yeah absolutely

28:49

and the fact that you know he's talking

28:51

about these details about the undergarments being found

28:54

in the backpacking found you

28:56

know these are things that are not publicized

28:58

these are things that you don't

29:00

really see in the national

29:02

media. Well exactly and actually

29:04

the only official police narrative to this

29:06

day is their announcement that on March

29:08

30th so a week after she went

29:11

missing a week-ish a sweater was

29:13

found that may have belonged to Shalana

29:15

along with a piece of her backpack

29:17

but no one is exactly sure and

29:20

I mean it's super common in unsolved

29:22

cases to abstain from sharing too much

29:24

information to the public so it's definitely

29:27

possible that if this Reddit is a

29:29

local who was a part of the search team that

29:31

they witnessed or heard about these items

29:33

being found and the police just haven't

29:35

given all the details to the public

29:37

yet. Well unfortunately to this

29:39

day that's about all that's been found

29:42

that could possibly be linked to Shalana

29:44

Brown and police efforts

29:46

have basically dwindled because there haven't been

29:49

any new leads there

29:51

have been no more witnesses no

29:53

more pieces of evidence no possible

29:55

connections for Shalana's case it's

29:58

now sadly for all intents and purposes

30:00

a cold missing person's

30:02

case. And honestly it

30:04

just seems highly improbable to me

30:07

that in a community that small

30:09

no one has any idea what

30:11

happened to her and nobody has

30:13

inklings or knowledge who her stalker

30:15

could be which then brings about

30:17

another question if she really did

30:19

have a stalker like she's claiming she did is this

30:22

the same person that she

30:24

potentially met foul play with

30:26

the day that she went missing

30:28

because the only way I could see that

30:30

being possible is if I mean that person

30:33

happened to be driving by her at some

30:35

point that day or if they were following

30:37

her which is definitely possible as well but

30:39

it's again because she didn't tell anybody who

30:42

this person was it's hard

30:44

to know who they were but I

30:46

can't imagine again that somebody in that

30:48

community doesn't say yeah you know I

30:50

think it could be this person especially

30:52

because everybody knows everybody. Yeah I

30:54

mean it's it's kind of crazy that they

30:56

don't have any suspects or they don't even

30:59

have any like clues as to

31:01

who it could be it doesn't

31:03

seem like they you know they really have

31:05

anything at all. At least that

31:07

they haven't released which again is common

31:09

but I wish there was more conversation

31:11

around this but there's nothing really out

31:14

there at all even though in so

31:16

many cases we cover even the rumors

31:18

surface the internet but that's really not

31:20

happening here with anybody who's saying this

31:22

one guy is really weird you know

31:25

but I also want to mention for

31:27

those wondering given that no evidence has

31:29

indicated that Shalana was killed the

31:31

investigation could not be escalated

31:33

into a murder investigation which would

31:36

obviously facilitate more resources for

31:38

local police in order to

31:40

expand their searches for Shalana

31:43

but as we said foul play is

31:45

heavily suspected by those who knew her and

31:48

those in the community. However

31:51

one rather grim theory presented by

31:53

the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is

31:55

that Shalana may have taken her

31:58

own life. So while exactly.

32:00

Examining Shalana's phone and computer for

32:02

any possible evidence, police found a

32:04

series of quote, disturbing writings that

32:07

made them wonder if she had

32:09

any suicidal ideations. But

32:11

we do want to say that

32:13

while the contents of these writings

32:15

have never been revealed to the

32:17

public, the family were quick to

32:19

outright dismiss these claims as nothing

32:21

more than wild speculation on the

32:23

police's part, saying that they were

32:25

merely examples of Shalana's dynamic writings

32:27

and not a suicide note as

32:30

posited by the RCMP. Given

32:33

the police's accusation that her daughter had

32:36

written a suicide note, Monica Brown and

32:38

her son were blunt with their reply

32:40

to police to not contact them unless

32:42

they found any tangible evidence that could

32:45

lead them to finding their loved one.

32:48

Monica said quote, a body, DNA

32:50

sample, dental records, those are the

32:52

only things we'll accept as conclusive.

32:56

On April 10th, 2021,

32:58

a walk was held to honor missing

33:01

and murdered indigenous people by several members

33:03

of the Haida community. Shalana

33:06

was prominently featured, her disappearance being

33:08

a far too recent happening in

33:10

their small town of Old Massett.

33:13

On May 5th, 2021, Shalana's

33:15

family also attended the first

33:17

annual Red Dress Day March,

33:19

honoring missing and murdered indigenous

33:21

women. And Shalana's grandfather

33:23

sang a traditional Mohawk Indian

33:25

song to honor his missing

33:27

granddaughter. The

33:29

sudden vanishing of Shalana has naturally

33:31

been extremely challenging for her mother,

33:34

Monica Brown. She told

33:36

the Coastal First Nations Bear Initiative in

33:38

an article about Shalana that in the

33:40

first year, she spent so much of

33:43

her emotional energy just trying to set

33:45

the record straight about her daughter, who

33:47

she claimed police had painted into a

33:49

quote, scared little girl who was

33:51

out in the woods where she didn't belong.

33:55

When in fact, she knew her daughter to

33:57

be a very resourceful, strong, intelligent,

33:59

and woman who was

34:01

familiar with the land not a damsel

34:03

in distress. Monica said

34:05

quote the first year I was really

34:07

grasping to humanize her. I did

34:10

a lot of public posts angry

34:12

attacking people talking about

34:15

colonization and the conspiracy of silence.

34:18

I felt like I was doing it to piss people

34:20

off so that they would react and give her back.

34:24

Monica also expressed extreme anguish at

34:26

how the police initially handled the

34:28

situation claiming that they were

34:30

actively telling people not to go out and

34:32

help search due to the risk posed

34:34

by COVID-19. They also claimed

34:37

people would only complicate the search if

34:40

they got involved and would make their

34:42

work more difficult. In

34:44

her never-ending quest to find her daughter Monica

34:47

has experienced the anxiety and agony of

34:49

hearing about the discovery of a body

34:52

only to find that it's not Shillana

34:54

far too many times but she's still

34:56

holds out hope that one day something

34:59

will be found and she'll get the

35:01

answers that she desperately seeks. Monica

35:04

has established a GoFundMe to

35:06

allocate resources to help in

35:08

her search and started a

35:10

Facebook page called Bring Shillana

35:12

Home. A handsome reward now standing at

35:15

$85,000 Canadian dollars has

35:17

been announced for anyone that has

35:19

any information that could lead to

35:21

the discovery of Shillana Brown. On

35:24

January 16th, 2024 Monica Brown made a post on the

35:29

Bring Shillana Home Facebook page that

35:31

included a bunch of photos mostly

35:33

of Shillana but then one of

35:35

a bag that she made with

35:37

a red upside down ghost face

35:40

weaved onto it and they

35:42

were captioned quote it has

35:44

been three years and 43 weeks

35:46

since Shillana went missing. During

35:49

this time I've done lots of

35:51

healing research more healing courses on

35:53

trauma work indigenous coaching my

35:55

circle of friends and family has

35:57

gotten very small. Another

36:00

way of healing has been through weaving. It's

36:03

been a struggle, falling apart to allow

36:05

for more healing. The

36:07

upside down ghost space for me

36:09

represents my daughter Chelan a missing,

36:12

vanished, no answers. Her

36:14

and other indigenous women, men, girls

36:16

and boys continue to go missing

36:19

at an alarming rate with little

36:21

to nothing being done, calls for

36:23

action with little to nothing. This

36:26

is why there is no face, only

36:29

a red hand. Represents

36:32

the silencing of such matters in our

36:34

society. I will continue to

36:36

speak out. I will continue to take

36:38

a stand. I will continue to

36:40

grow and learn. So

36:42

many in history haven't been given

36:45

the right to speak, ended up

36:47

in jail, residential schools, day schools,

36:49

sent away to Mormon homes, sent

36:51

away to foster homes. How many

36:53

more people do we need to

36:55

go missing, murdered before anything is

36:57

done? In

36:59

the search for Chelan a Brown, several

37:02

questions have been raised and nearly

37:04

none have been answered. A

37:07

nebulous mix of conflicting timelines,

37:09

witness testimonies and online rumors

37:11

have made the story of

37:13

Chelan a Brown's disappearance an

37:15

extremely difficult case to follow.

37:19

Why did Chelan feel unsafe for herself

37:21

and her family? Who

37:23

was this mystery person that she claimed was

37:25

stalking her? And why

37:27

did police actively discourage people from searching

37:30

the area? And we

37:32

think it's really helpful to read a few

37:34

more forum comments because it's always good getting

37:36

local perspectives. So one comment wrote, quote, RCMP

37:39

are absolutely notorious for the lack

37:41

of fucks that they give about

37:44

MMIW. Knowing

37:46

that and the fact that this happened in

37:48

the first couple of weeks of the pandemic,

37:50

I'm not surprised that there's been very little

37:52

media attention about her case. I

37:55

live in interior BC and never saw a

37:57

single article about her. It

38:00

is located in the Haida Gwaii Islands off

38:02

the west coast of the province. It's

38:05

quite remote, and like most areas

38:07

of BC, is thickly forested and

38:09

very rugged. The communities

38:11

there are small and far between,

38:14

and resources are limited. Travel

38:17

between Haida Gwaii and the mainland can

38:19

be challenging, and I would hazard a

38:21

guess that she never left the islands.

38:25

Someone else said, quote, I used to live on

38:27

Haida Gwaii. The bush is

38:29

super thick there, so if she was

38:31

kidnapped, she honestly probably will never be

38:33

found. One

38:36

more commenter said, quote, it definitely sounds like

38:38

her stalker took advantage of the fact that

38:40

not as many people were going out with

38:42

the pandemic and knew that it was unlikely

38:44

that they would have witnesses. It

38:47

really just seems like someone in her

38:49

community has to know something or have

38:52

an idea of what happened because, again,

38:54

the community is so small. And

38:56

one more commenter said, quote, Shalana

38:59

is from my community. I've been mentally

39:01

going through people in my mind. There

39:04

certainly are a few that check the

39:06

boxes. Regardless

39:08

of the lingering questions, Monica

39:10

Brown has not given up

39:12

hope. She relentlessly

39:14

continues the search for her daughter,

39:16

stopping at nothing to bring her

39:19

home. She is

39:21

certain Shalana is somewhere on the island.

39:23

She just doesn't know where, saying,

39:25

quote, I can feel her. I

39:28

just can't figure out where she is. That's

39:30

why I go back and look because she needs

39:33

to be able to see or hear. Maybe

39:35

even one person will see that missing

39:38

persons poster or post on social media

39:40

and might be able to make a

39:42

connection. Help in any

39:44

way. If

39:47

you or anyone you know has any

39:50

information that could lead to the discovery

39:52

of Shalana Brown, please

39:54

reach out to Canadian authorities

39:57

or to Crimestoppers at bcrimestoppers.com.

40:00

and the Bring Chelan Home Facebook

40:02

page. And if you can, please

40:05

donate to their GoFundMe. The link

40:07

is in the description of this

40:09

episode. Thank

40:19

you so much everybody for listening to

40:21

this episode of Going West. Yes, thank

40:23

you guys so much for listening to this episode.

40:26

And on Friday we'll have an all new case

40:28

for you guys to dive into. I

40:30

know there's not a ton of information

40:32

on this case, but that really is

40:34

where the problem lies, that there's not

40:36

enough media coverage. So please make sure

40:38

that you share Chelan's story. Her

40:41

family deserves to know what happened to her. We

40:43

have her missing poster on our socials. All

40:46

you gotta do is repost it or tell

40:48

somebody about this episode. Yeah, and like

40:50

Daphne said, if you can, please go check

40:52

out the GoFundMe. Donate if you feel like

40:54

you can. We're definitely gonna do that. So

40:56

again, thank you guys so much for listening.

40:59

Share this episode and we'll see you next

41:01

time. Alright guys, so

41:03

for everybody out there in the world, don't

41:05

be a stranger.