UPDATE: 1:30 p.m. Sept. 21:
The vigil for Blayne Ferguson that was scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight, Sept. 21, has been cancelled due to a medical emergency. The vigil will be rescheduled at a later date.
ORIGINAL:
Saturday will mark one year since Vernon's Blayne Ferguson went missing.
Police have said criminality is suspected in the disappearance of Ferguson, who hasn't been seen since Sept. 21, 2023, when he was 27 years old.
His mother, Linda Cassel, previously told The Morning Star that the family, including Ferguson's young children, are waiting to hear the worst; they believe Ferguson was killed, and are waiting on police to find his body and lay charges in relation to his death.
They're also ensuring Ferguson's name isn't forgotten.
Cassel has organized a candlelight vigil in Polson Park at 7 p.m. Saturday, the one-year anniversary of Ferguson's disappearance. Anyone is invited to attend the event, which Cassel says is not just to remember her son, but to remember "every victim and every family affected by senseless violent crime," as she wrote on a Facebook event page.
There was a video circulating on social media in which Cassel said her son was "brutally assaulted" by multiple people. It was taken down and "there were arrests made but charges were stayed," she said. "The police know who are responsible for his disappearance."
The grieving mother won't give up until her son is found and justice has been served.
"The people responsible still have their freedom while we live each day without our son, brother, father, uncle, grandson and friend Blayne Ferguson," Cassel wrote. "We deserve answers and I feel the authorities aren't getting them fast enough for us."
The Vernon North Okanagan RCMP said Wednesday that the investigation into Ferguson's disappearance is ongoing, but had no further information to provide.
