BBQ marks 10 years since Keepness disappeared

A barbeque to mark the ten-year anniversary of Tamra Keepness disappearance was held in the Regina's core community park. 

Troy Keepness, father of Tamra, says even after ten years it is still hard for him to cope with his daughter's disappearance. 

"It's been a long time, a lot of heartache and just in shock of how long it's been. I'm still scared," he says. "I'm afraid if it was the worse thing of her not being alive."

He says he pictures her as a 15-year-old teenager and tries to imagine what she would look like today. Keepness, five-years-old at the time, went missing in July 2004 from her Regina home during the night. She was reported missing the next day by her mother, Lorena Keepness. 

Erica Beaudin, Urban Services Manager for the Regina Treaty/Status Indian Services (RT/SIS), has been the original organizer for the annual barbeque for Keepness and hopes this event spreads awareness to the public. 

"It's to remind the public that we’re still searching for Tamra," she says. "If Tamra's out there, she is aware that we are still looking for her and we haven’t forgotten her."

Beaudin says they choose the core community park every year because it's the community she grew up in. 

RT/SIS has been keeping constant contact with the police, being aware and ready to search when tips come in. 

On behalf of the Regina Police Service (RPS), Inspector Darcy Cook says the RPS remains committed to this investigation. 

"We have investigators ongoing looking for information to lead to her location. It's important that the public's assistance is very important," he says. "We encourage everyone to remain diligent in obtaining information and we'll continue this investigation actively."

For more photos from the BBQ, please visit our photo gallery. 

Many people within the community attend this barbeque to support the search for Tamra and her family. Kyrsten Saulteaux, a youth worker with RT/SIS, says it's very important for her to attend to support the family and the community because she works with a lot of youth everyday. 

"It's so important to have our kids safe and that's why I like being here because of the young kids and I work with them," she says.

Keepness' father encourages people to watch your children closer because there are a lot of bad people out there. 

He hopes his daughter is out there listening and sends this heartfelt message to her, "I love you and come home."

Recently, the RPS increased the reward from $25,000 to $50,000 with hopes someone will come forward with information solving the investigation.