The family of a missing 82-year-old woman last seen in Aldergrove six days ago has reached out via social media with a plea for help from members of the public.
In a Facebook post, Jane Whitehouse’s family is asking people to check their own properties to aid in the search, saying it could be “enormously helpful.”
“NO ONE can search PRIVATE PROPERTY unless they have the consent of the property owner OR a warrant from a judge authorizing them to search,” the family said in the post.
“As a result, PRIVATE PROPERTY is one of the most overlooked areas in any search effort for a missing person. People who are missing and lost, cold, disoriented, etc. may seek shelter wherever they can find it and in the process, cross over property lines. A property owner may not be aware they are there, unless they look.”
In the post, the family says it is known that Whitehouse traveled from Aldergrove to Harrison Lake, so this is the current area of interest.
“If anyone has properties in the Fraser Valley, especially acreages like farms and homesteads, we would love it if you did a systematic/organized search, looking in outbuildings, along fence lines, etc.,” the family said.
“At this time, we have no evidence that confirms she was with her her van up the forest service road so any and all searches on any properties from Aldergrove to Agassiz could make a difference for us.”
The family also issued a reminder that to search on private property, it has to be your own property or at the invitation of the owner.
Meanwhile, the Langley RCMP has issued an image of a vehicle, a white Mercedes SUV, asking the driver to come forward to speak to investigators.
“Investigators have obtained video surveillance footage which places the grey Dodge Caravan that Jane Whitehouse was associated to on Hicks Lake Road on October 25, 2024 at approximately 4:10 pm.,” police said.
“Several seconds later, a white Mercedes SUV was seen heading in the opposite direction and passed the grey Dodge Caravan.”
Whitehouse was last seen Oct. 25 in Aldergrove, wearing a thigh-length green jacket, a dark sweater with white stripes, and dark pants. Her vehicle was found in a remote area two days later, on Oct. 27, near Harrison Lake.
What happened between then and when her grey Dodge Caravan was found abandoned almost 120 kilometres away is a mystery.
Whitehouse is around 5’1″ tall and has grey-blonde hair.
Anyone with any information about the missing woman is asked to call their local police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
With files from Mike Lloyd, Charlie Carey, and Charles Brockman.