Friends and family are mourning the deaths of two Cree women in Dawson Creek, B.C., and searching for answers about what happened to the cousins, whose remains were discovered and identified weeks apart in the northeast B.C. community.
Darylyn Supernant, 29, and Renee Didier, 41, were last seen alive on March 15 and Dec. 2, 2023, respectively.
Police publicly identified Didier’s remains on May 28, followed by Supernant’s remains on June 18, shortly after what would have been her birthday.
Their disappearances were described as unusual by family, who say both women were normally quick to respond to texts and calls, and would often stop by for visits.
And though police have said little, there are fears the women may have been targeted as vulnerable members of a community that has seen an increase in gang violence over the past year.
But at the moment, the focus is on remembering the pair, who are described as vibrant, loving people by their family.
“She was my rock and one of my best friends,” said Jordyn Ashley Cornish, who grew up with Supernant after Cornish’s mom and Supernant’s dad got together.
“One thing we would always say to each other is that even if our parents broke up, we would always be siblings, no matter what.”
The pair were born just weeks apart, Cornish said, and even though she was the older of the two, it was Supernant who would always look out for her.
“I always told everyone, like, she takes care of me,” she said, recalling her love of clothes and creating art. “She was so beautiful.”
“She had one of those laughs, and her voice, it was just adorable. I can’t tell you how much I would give anything just to hear it again.”
Supernant’s remains were identified the same week family has been planning a memorial service for Didier, to be held this Saturday in the village of Pouce Coupe, where she grew up.
Pouce Coupe is just outside Dawson Creek, an agricultural and oil-and-gas producing city of about 12,000 people in B.C.’s Peace region, located around 740 kilometres north of Vancouver and 20 kilometres from the Alberta border.
Didier has been remembered as a “fun loving” mother of two by her grandmother, Verna Cardinal, who said she could always count on her for a ride or help when needed.
“My sister was absolutely lovely,” Chante Webb wrote in a Facebook message to CBC News. Aside from her own children, Webb said Didier also “had a huge soft spot for all her nieces and nephews … She is very loved and so missed.”
In an online memorial, Trent Webb wrote of his sister, “she was a beacon of light in our lives, a source of joy, laughter, and unwavering support. Her infectious smile could brighten even the darkest of days and her laughter echoed through our hearts long after it faded from the room … Her presence was a gift, one that we cherished every moment we were fortunate enough to have.”
Worries about community safety
Though the families have expressed some relief at finding their loved ones remains, they still have questions about how the women died.
RCMP have not said much publicly about the deaths, beyond the fact they continue to investigate and are asking anyone with information to come forward.
Police have not said whether they believe foul play could be involved in either death, but multiple people CBC News has spoken to — including family — fear the cousins could be victims of an uptick in violence in the city that has progressed to the point that anti-gang units from the Lower Mainland were sent into the community late last year following a spate of shootings.
Though the cousins aren’t believed to have travelled in the same social circles, both women were known to use drugs, family say, and there are worries they could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time — or even targeted by someone in the community.
“It wasn’t normal for her to be out of contact with everyone,” Cornish said of Supernant. “She was always talking to someone, she was very social.”
Cardinal said the same thing of Didier, telling CBC News she had plans to pick her up the night she went missing, “but she never did call me.”
Police are also investigating two other 2023 disappearances: Cole Hosack, a 24-year-old from Prince George, was last seen passing through town for work on New Year’s Eve at the same bar where Didier was spotted shortly before she disappeared. And Dave Daniel Domingo, a 24-year-old who was believed to have been in a rural area near Dawson Creek on Aug. 29 when police responded to reports of a possible shooting.
Search for justice
In previous interviews Walter Mineault — an uncle to both women, and a vice-president with the Métis Nation of B.C. — has said missing and murdered women in Canada do not receive the attention they deserve from law enforcement and policymakers.
After Didier’s body was identified, he told the Canadian Press that closure could only truly come for the families after they knew “the whole story.”
“Our families are hurting. Our families have been destroyed over these issues and it’s just too much to deal with at times. So until we can find out who is doing these crimes and stop them from committing these crimes further, it’s just going to continue.”
Cornish, too, said she was hoping for answers and said she has spent months feeling guilty she didn’t know where her sister had gone.
“I felt like I should just be able to walk out the door and know where she is,” she said. “My heart would just break every time I woke up, and I kept hoping, you know, she’d walk through the door.”