Image contributed by Quinn family

By Dylana Kneeshaw

MISSING: PATRICIA QUINN

Into Thin Air – Patricia Quinn | Indigenous mother, sister and daughter last seen in Lytton

Jul 25, 2025 | 5:20 PM

LYTTON — Since the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people, the epidemic has become a larger topic of discussion across the country. The 2019 inquiry found Indigenous women are statistically more likely than non-Indigenous women to experience violence, be killed or go missing. And BC’s Interior isn’t exempt from the problem. In this episode of Into Thin Air, we review the disappearance of Patricia Quinn. The 33-year-old from Lytton First Nation went missing in July of 2008 and her family feels more could have been done to investigate her disappearance, and keep the word out about her case.

In the 17 years Patricia Quinn has been missing, Lytton has changed dramatically. The town was destroyed by wildfire and the rebuild hasn’t been completed yet. Much of the Quinn family remains in Lytton First Nation, haunted by their desire to know what happened to Patricia.

“I wish I knew where she’s at. That’s the one. I want her to come home, if she’s still out there,” says William Quinn, Patricia’s father. “If she’s gone I’d hope we could find her to let her rest in peace.”

Often going by the nickname ‘Tadah’, Patricia Quinn’s family remember her as a gentle, shy woman.

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“She’s a mother, she’s a sister, she’s an auntie and she’s a daughter,” sister Christine reiterates.

“She was always smiling. Laughing,” adds William. “Got a good smile.”

Patricia was last seen July 10, 2008. At the time, her family says Patricia was navigating grief, becoming a mother to four children, substance use struggles and trying to find her way in the world.

“We would cry together and laugh together,” her aunt Darlene Raphael describes. “She was very reserved, I guess you could say. She never really… I don’t think she talked to too many people about her life and her personal life.”

In the months leading up to her disappearance, her aunt says Patricia hadn’t been herself. She was clean after completing substance use treatment, then became fervently passionate about religion, carrying a Bible around wherever she went.

“Well for me, I wonder where she is, and if she’s alright and if she’s aware that she’s missing… or is someone holding her? Is she in a cult? Is she buried somewhere? Did she jump in the river?” she wonders. “You know, there’s all kinds of things that we just don’t know.”

Her sister Christine says Patricia called her the night before she went missing, wanting to meet up the next day under the bridge, but that didn’t end up happening.

Patricia had been staying in Lytton at another woman’s house. On the day of her disappearance, she reportedly left the house in the early morning hours. She was last seen carrying a Bible and walking along the side of the highway. The Quinn family still doesn’t know where she went.

“Their mother Rosie, she never (let it go),” explains Patricia’s uncle, Fred Raphael. “I’ve seen her going all over the place, looking down the river and everything and talking to people. And there were a lot of accusations going around — rumours, I guess you’d say. And she would follow up on it.”

Patricia’s mother, Rosemary, passed away several years after her daughter’s disappearance. Up until her death, she had kept her landline number active, in case her missing daughter ever called home.

“I still celebrate her birthday. I do like, barbeques and have a little dinner for her,” says Christine. “My mom used to buy her Christmas presents every year and put them underneath the tree just in case she comes home at Christmas time.”

Desperate searches were undertaken, posters were hung up and the family followed up on any mention of Patricia. There’s been a few followups from RCMP but no tips have panned out. Given Patricia’s age and background, the case has made her family acutely aware of disproportionate rates of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQI+ People.

“I feel as if there wasn’t enough done to look for her,” stresses Darlene. “I think it was mainly her mom and father who were doing the best they could in the only way they knew how. But I felt that it wasn’t really taken seriously.”

In a broader sense, Patricia’s family feels the problems the young woman struggled with have a correlation to the struggles Indigenous peoples have faced in the past. They worry about the vulnerable position that can put other community members in.

“Residential schools, it affected everyone here. Native and non-native. We’ve all been devastated over the years and right to today, especially after our fire,” explains Fred. “I’ve seen more destruction here within our community, more death, more drug stores, more bootleggers. It’s like a crisis here that’s been silenced.”

With little information to go on, Patricia Quinn’s family continues to ask people to keep an eye out for Patricia and to speak up if there’s anything that could bring them closer to finding her.

“And if anybody knows about if anything happened to her just please let the RCMP know, anonymously. If she did get hurt or you know someone who hurt her,” Christine pleads.

“I wish that we knew whether she was here on earth or whether she’s gone to the spirit world with our ancestors,” adds Darlene. “Because it would really put a lot of peace to our minds. Especially my niece and her dad and her brother and their families, and Patricia’s kids.”

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To anonymously report a crime or submit a tip, Kamloops, Crime Stoppers can be reached at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the BC Crime Stoppers website.