Saturday will mark the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of Grande Prairie man, and his family remains dedicated to getting answers as to what happened to Jamie Lee. On September 4, 2011, then 19-year-old James Gregory Lee was last seen walking away from a campsite at Smoky Flats south of Grande Prairie around 5 a.m.
His mother Julie DeWinter says the family has received thousands of tips over the years, some of which are plausible. She adds the family as a whole remains stuck on the date nearly a decade ago.
“We’ve never gotten a straight answer about anything… you can’t say, ‘Oh I hope he’s coming home soon, nor can you say he’s dead and mourn him. So many people comment saying it’s been 10 years already… we’ve lived every day of these 10 years; this 10 years has taken forever, and that won’t change until we can get answers.”
DeWinter says despite having the support of friends, family, well-wishers, and the police over the last 10 years, a lack of clarity and closure has made an incredibly difficult situation that much worse.
“The longer it gets, in some ways, the worse it gets because you beat yourself up more about it. If we knew something happened and he was still out there, we would do everything in our powers to get him back, which we’ve tried a million different ways and a million different things, but you can’t move on.”
The family will be holding a small gathering on Saturday to mark the 10th anniversary of his disappearance and are asking friends or acquaintances of Jamie Lee to bring photos or keepsakes that remind them of him.
