155th ARTICLE: Search renewed for B.C. woman missing in Vegas

CTV BC (ctvbc.ca)

November 1, 2008

Search renewed for B.C. woman missing in Vegas

by Maria Weisgarber 


LINK TO VIDEO: 
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/CanadaAM/20081101/BC_missing_foster_vegas_081101/


Glendene Grant has never given up hope that her daughter Jessie is still alive.

"I still don't believe Jessie's dead," says Grant. "We've got well over 120, 125 articles about Jessie's case."


The Kamloops, B.C. mother hasn't seen her daughter since Christmas 2005. Jessie had come home for a visit from las Vegas, where she was living with 39-year-old Peter Todd. Her final phone call to family came in march 2006.


"I think that Jessie was taken away against her will," she says.


Grant believes her daughter is a victim of human trafficking -- lured into the sex trade. The 21-year-old was arrested for prostitution while in Vegas.


"I think that they knew she was getting ready to come back to Canada, which she was," says Grant.


Meanwhile, search crews have renewed their search of the Nevada desert north of where Foster was living. The decision to re-start efforts was made after a tip last week pinpointing a specific location.


"I'm pretty confident that they're not going to find her anywhere in the Nevada desert," says Grant.


"If we can't find out where she is then we can eliminate the places where she isn't."


Grant still lives across the street from the elementary school her daughter attended. Jessie's car sits parked in the yard -- some of her possessions are still on the backseat.


"There have been times when I've come out and sat in it, but it's hard," says Grant. "Cause when you set down in there and put your hands on the steering wheel you know that's exactly where her hands once were."


The mother is holding on to hope, but she is also prepared to let go.


"I believe Jessie's alive so I don't believe they're going to find her but if they do then that means that we'll at least have had part of our answers and the next step would be to get the justice Jessie deserves."


With a report from CTV British Columbia's Maria Weisgarber