Miguel Mack (image credit - Elijah Mack-Stirling/ Facebook)

By Michael Reeve

MIGUEL MACK

As Mounties reveal new information, Miguel Mack’s family prepares to honour him in Merritt

Mar 1, 2024 | 5:30 PM

MERRITT B.C. — “I know that somebody knows something and I’m hoping that there is going to be somebody brave enough to come forward,” said Miguel Mack’s mother Cella.

It’s been 369 days since Miguel was last seen in Merritt. For his family, and mom Cella, each day has felt both like an eternity and a single moment.

“Some days it feel like, yes, it was just yesterday. Hitting the one-year mark has been more of a reminder and I’m reliving those days,” Cella told CFJC News. “And then other days it feels like it’s been so long I don’t know what day it is.”

For his family, the 24-year-old Miguel, who was affectionately known as Miggy, was always known as momma’s boy.

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“Miguel is my big baby. He was definitely a momma’s boy and we all talk about it all the time,” said Cella. “No matter what was going on in life, no matter what, no matter if it was good or bad, he always came home to me.”

On Thursday (Feb. 29), the BC RCMP Major Crimes Unit, announced a startling development in Miguel’s disappearance, calling it for the first time, a homicide.

“Seeing it in that form, it’s really hard for me accept. I don’t want to believe,” Cella struggled to say.

The investigation remains active for major crimes and the Merritt detachment.

For many facing the reality of a missing or murdered family member, closure can become a taboo word as some say it can never be truly achieved. For the Mack family, it remains their only hope.

“We want closure, more than anything,” said Cella. “Not knowing has been the hardest and as a family we deserve that. I know we deserve that closure.”

“We don’t know where my brother is, or if he will ever come home,” said Miguel’s brother Elijah in a post to social media. “But we trace our footsteps back to where he lived. To call for his spirit. We light candles to help guide our spirits back to us, because they are more often than not, lost and wondering. We feast with a meal prepared with love and strength because we gather our energy and provide energy! Food was Miguel’s second favourite thing in the entire world. We will offer a plate for him. We honour our stolen brothers and sisters and we don’t know what anyone’s stories are.”

On Friday evening, the Mack family held a walk for Miguel, followed by a moment of silence and candlelight vigil in Spirit Square.