‘Hold on to that hope’: Daughter of missing Manitoba woman still searching

Ywanna (Jean) Backman was first reported missing on Oct. 19, 2023, after RCMP were called to check on her well-being and couldn't find her at her RM of Piney home.

The daughter of a missing woman says each day brings a combination of “hope and heartache” as family and friends try to find out what happened.

Ywanna (Jean) Backman was first reported missing on Oct. 19, 2023, after RCMP were called to check on her well-being and couldn’t find her at her RM of Piney home.

More than a year later, and despite repeated pleas to the public for information from police, the whereabouts of Jean, who was 70 years old at the time of her disappearance, still remain a mystery.

“Since my mom went missing last year … life has been incredibly different,” Jean’s daughter Vanessa Backman told Global Winnipeg.

“I really just hold on to that hope that we will find her, and be able to celebrate her life and all that she means to everybody…. We love her and miss her, and we wish her a safe return.”

So far, Backman said, she’s had good communication with police about the ongoing investigation but feels RCMP and the community have exhausted search options, without any positive result.

“I truly believe we’ve done everything that we can on the extended search efforts, the number of community members from near and far, across Manitoba, who have supported the efforts through both the public and private sector,” she said.

“The RCMP approached this exactly how the textbook articulates this, and the community did what anyone would do when you don’t hear from someone … for a short period of time.”