“We will never give up.”
That’s the vow of Christine Moore as the search for her son Christopher Newton continues.
The 33-year-old was last seen in Nelson in August of last year and Moore says the family has been walking an emotional tightrope ever since.
“We’re trying to stay on that rope and not pull to one side which is, loss, and too much to the other side which is hope,” she explained.
“No one prepares you for the pain of a lost or missing loved one,” Christine added.
“We’ve had panic attacks, moments of excitement, thinking that this lead is going to go and turn out to be positive, to absolute distress on where are we going next,” described Moore.
She expected both support and criticism from the family’s aggressive social media campaign.
Moore hopes her responses sheds light on society’s most vulnerable.
“So, that people can walk by an unhoused person and actually, maybe, look at them as a human,” she stated.
“I’ve experienced tremendous pain in witnessing and hearing with my own ears some of the vilification that has been done to my son,” she added.
“When hate is disguised as concern the public begins to believe that punishment is care and cruelty becomes a community value and then people like my son, they disappear.”
Moore says Christopher is an accomplished arborist who left Alberta for B-C, believing the longer spring and summer seasons would mean a better business opportunity and he fell in love with Nelson.
“I remember him telling us, oh, the trees and the opportunity, he really thought that there would be an opportunity to start his business, but it didn’t take off and unfortunately his mental illness really got in the way of a lot of things he tried to accomplish.”
Christopher was diagnosed with schizophrenia and Christine says his distrust in others escalated to electronics with Chris getting rid of his cellphone.
He would phone her from “The Hub” until it closed, where Chris embraced his relationship with staff.
However, the death of his grandmother and the taking down of the encampment where he lived were triggers of Chris’ increasing feeling of worthlessness.
“We had to encourage him that it’s not a failure, just always encouraging him, unfortunately he was struggling a lot with his mental health and self medicating through drugs as we just tried to give him the best support we could,” said Christine, who described her son as a gentle caring young man.
“My son was not dangerous or violent, and again, when cruelty becomes a community value and by narrative, situations like this happen,” she reiterated, hoping that attitudes will change.
“I think it’s important for people to understand when you’re looking at a missing poster that here is always a story behind the individual who is missing, to really break down those barriers of stigma when you’re looking at the unhoused population,”
Moore and family members have followed up on possible sightings of Christopher, including a heart wrenching and unsuccessful visit to Vancouver, where they received hugs and support from those living day-by-day on the street.
The family urges anyone who thinks they see Chris to report any tip.
“Don’t second guess yourself, if you see somebody you think is our son, please remember the date, time, location, what he was wearing and call that in to your local police detachment,” she said, adding that tips can also be called into Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-tips.
The family remains committed to finding the young man known as “dancing Chris”.
“We will continue the search and continue the fight for our son to bring him home, while hoping to dispel the negative narrative that comes along with somebody in a vulnerable situation like my son.”
Emails can be sent to [email protected] and posts can be made to the Missing Person-Chris Newton Facebook page.
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