Trina Roache
APTN National News
Police know more details about a Mi’kmaw woman who was thought to have gone missing from the Eskasoni First Nation in Cape Breton in September.
Chrisma Joy Denny, 23, actually left the reserve three weeks earlier.
Police now say Denny was last seen in Eskasoni on Aug. 22.
After that, they traced her route across the border at Houlton, Maine to Alabama and Tennessee. She hitchhiked at least part of that way with a truck driver.
At a truck stop in Alabama, Denny encountered a local sheriff. Her family was later told he got her something to eat and took her to the station. He encouraged her to return home, but Denny moved on.
A few days later, police in Knox County, Tennessee received a call on Sept. 17 about an intoxicated woman. They confirm it was Denny and say she was not drinking, but it was clear she had nowhere to go and had no belongings. Police took her to a shelter where she stayed for a couple of days. Denny was last seen was in Tennessee two days later.
All of this happened before Denny was reported missing in Canada.
That didn’t happen until Nov. 4, because it wasn’t unusual for Denny to go off on her own for periods of time. But her family says she’s never done anything like this before.
Her aunt Elaine Denny is upset over reports that Denny has been found. She worries it will stop people from looking or calling in tips to police. Though she was spotted in the United States, there’s been no sign of her in the two months since.
And Denny says her niece is vulnerable. She’s struggled with drugs and mental illness. For the family, the details of her travels in the U.S. means they have to throw an even wider net in their search.
Police continue to call this a missing person case.
Anyone with information can contact Cape Breton Regional Police at 902-563-5151, Eskasoni RCMP at 902-379-2822, or anonymously through CrimeStoppers.
