After 31 years with no answers, the disappearance of the Jack family is a tragic and haunting memory in Prince George.
As the search for Ronald (Ronnie), his partner Doreen and their two sons Russell and Ryan continues, the Jack family with the help of non-profit organizations have released age progression photos of the four missing persons.
Ronnie and Doreen were 26 years old in 1989, and Russell and Ryan were only nine and four-years-old when the promise of work prompted the family to pack up their belongings and leave Prince George with an unknown man – never to be heard from again.
Jack Family Collage. (via RCMP) The age progression images imagine what Ronnie and Doreen would look like at age 57, Russell at age 40, and Ryan at age 35.
The photos were made possible by Unidentified Human Remains Canada, Steinberg's Facial Identification Catalogs and The AWARE Foundation, Inc.
According to investigators, it’s believed Ronnie, spoke to a man at a neighbourhood pub the evening of Aug. 1, 1989 about securing work for himself and Doreen. The man offered the couple jobs at a logging ranch, thought to be located near Clucluz Lake, about 40 kilometres west of Prince George.
As the couple did not have a vehicle, the man offered to drive the Jack family to the ranch that evening. The man went with Ronnie to the Jack family home, about four blocks from the pub, and waited while the couple packed their belongings and gathered their two sons
While packing, Ronnie called his brother in Southbank and his parents in Burns Lake. Around 1:30 a.m., the group piled into a dark, four-wheel-drive pickup truck and set off.
The family was scheduled to return in 10 days but they never appeared and were reported missing on Aug. 25, 1989.
The man who drove off with the Jack family was described as a white man, about 35 to 40 years old, standing 6-foot to 6-6 and weighing 200 to 275 pounds. He had reddish-brown hair with a full beard.
Police say throughout the investigation, several properties have been identified and searched as possible burial sites for the Jack family. All without success.
On Wednesday, Aug. 28, Thursday, Aug. 29 and Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, members of the investigative team from the Prince George RCMP's Serious Crime Unit, conducted a search on a portion of the property on the Saik'uz First Nation, south of Vanderhoof.
The search was conducted with the assistance of expert civilian consultants and included the use of ground-penetrating radar and heavy equipment.
No evidence of the Jack family was located.
Doreen’s sister Marlene also spoke during a panel on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in 2017, sharing details about her family’s upbringing leading up to Doreen’s disappearance.
Marlene and her sisters, Loreen Jack, Joclyne Paul and Charlize Falkner have never given up hope in finding their sister and their nephews.
This investigation continues to be led by the Prince George RCMP's Serious Crime Unit and remains active.
Anyone with information about the Jack family, where they are or who is responsible for their disappearance, should contact the Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300.
To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca.
