Calgary Sun
March 30, 2009
Family's hope still alive - Advocacy work continues for daughter who disappeared
by Alyssa Noel, SUN MEDIA
EDMONTON -- In the three years since her daughter went missing in Las Vegas's seedy underbelly, Glendene Grant's emotions have run the gamut from depression to hope.
After countless phone calls, e-mails and hours of advocacy work to keep her daughter's story alive, Grant has arrived at the conclusion that Jessie Foster did not going missing in vain.
"Jessie has really made people aware of human-trafficking," Grant said yesterday on the third anniversary of Foster's disappearance.
Grant has made sure her daughter's name shows up on every missing person website. She's jumped on every opportunity to speak to the media and she's well known to people who work to find missing people.
"Three years in (there's been) lots of media exposure, police on both sides of the border, human-trafficking services are aware of her and it's still going strong," she said.
But Grant still breaks down when she recalls the months leading up to Foster's disappearance.
The stomach-churning story began when her daughter -- who lived in Calgary at the time, but also spent time living in Edmonton -- was just 20 years old and her then-boyfriend offered her a free trip to Las Vegas in 2005.
Grant was reluctant to let her go, but decided that she deserved a break from the multiple jobs she was working. Jessie came home briefly before going back again.
But almost every day Foster would be in contact with her mom or one of her three sisters.
She also began dating another man and then working as an escort. He was abusive and alleged to be a pimp, Grant said.
Foster came home for Christmas in 2005, but she was different.
On Christmas morning she insisted her family drive her to the airport. She needed to get back to Las Vegas, she said.
That was the last time her family saw her. They remained in contact until March 2006. At the beginning of April, Grant reported her missing.
She was devastated and sunk into depression, taking medication and feeling overwhelming guilt any time she felt an ounce of happiness.
"I felt, who the hell deserves to be laughing when their kids are missing," she said.
It wasn't until the birth of her granddaughter, Madison, that she came out from the depression and began raising awareness about her daughter.
"The moment that baby came out, I was catapulted into the present," she said.
"Her name is Madison and I call her Medicine. It's my own little nickname."
The grief still hits her -- particularly on the anniversary -- but she takes solace knowing that Foster has become a sort of poster child for human-trafficking. She still holds out hope that her daughter is alive.
"It's hard to be a normal person now. That's all I talk about. That's all I do. My life is nothing but missing and murdered people."
After countless phone calls, e-mails and hours of advocacy work to keep her daughter's story alive, Grant has arrived at the conclusion that Jessie Foster did not going missing in vain.
"Jessie has really made people aware of human-trafficking," Grant said yesterday on the third anniversary of Foster's disappearance.
Grant has made sure her daughter's name shows up on every missing person website. She's jumped on every opportunity to speak to the media and she's well known to people who work to find missing people.
"Three years in (there's been) lots of media exposure, police on both sides of the border, human-trafficking services are aware of her and it's still going strong," she said.
But Grant still breaks down when she recalls the months leading up to Foster's disappearance.
The stomach-churning story began when her daughter -- who lived in Calgary at the time, but also spent time living in Edmonton -- was just 20 years old and her then-boyfriend offered her a free trip to Las Vegas in 2005.
Grant was reluctant to let her go, but decided that she deserved a break from the multiple jobs she was working. Jessie came home briefly before going back again.
But almost every day Foster would be in contact with her mom or one of her three sisters.
She also began dating another man and then working as an escort. He was abusive and alleged to be a pimp, Grant said.
Foster came home for Christmas in 2005, but she was different.
On Christmas morning she insisted her family drive her to the airport. She needed to get back to Las Vegas, she said.
That was the last time her family saw her. They remained in contact until March 2006. At the beginning of April, Grant reported her missing.
She was devastated and sunk into depression, taking medication and feeling overwhelming guilt any time she felt an ounce of happiness.
"I felt, who the hell deserves to be laughing when their kids are missing," she said.
It wasn't until the birth of her granddaughter, Madison, that she came out from the depression and began raising awareness about her daughter.
"The moment that baby came out, I was catapulted into the present," she said.
"Her name is Madison and I call her Medicine. It's my own little nickname."
The grief still hits her -- particularly on the anniversary -- but she takes solace knowing that Foster has become a sort of poster child for human-trafficking. She still holds out hope that her daughter is alive.
"It's hard to be a normal person now. That's all I talk about. That's all I do. My life is nothing but missing and murdered people."
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