Image: Supplied by Remembering Shaelene Bell Facebook / Shaelene Keeler Bell went missing on January 30, 2021; her body was later found in June 2021 in the Fraser River. As the two-year anniversary of her disappearance approaches, her mom, Chilliwack resident Alina Durham, continues to press federal and law enforcement officials for an Amber Alert-type system that would notify the public about missing adults in the most critical cases.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Shaelene Bell

Chilliwack mother lobbies for national Amber Alert system for missing adults

Jan 10, 2023 | 12:38 PM

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack resident Alina Durham carries the unspeakable anguish and unrelenting sorrow attached to losing a daughter every single day.

Shaelene Bell, a 23-year-old mother of two young boys, went missing on January 30, 2021. She was last seen in the 9300 block of Edward Street, according to a press release from the Chilliwack RCMP. Her picture was widely distributed throughout Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley, from gas stations to bulletin boards, streetlight poles to parks and beyond, as volunteers desperately sought to locate her.

Just a few days later after she was first reported missing, Bell’s car was found on Ballam Road in Fairfield Island along with her cell phone and other personal belongings still inside. Her body was later discovered in the Fraser River on June 2, 2021, putting a tragic end to the community-wide effort to locate her.

“I miss everything about her,” Alina Durham said during a telephone interview, her voice breaking from emotion. “I miss her smile, her kind heart. I’d do anything to have her back. She was beautiful on the inside and outside.”

In the days that followed Bell’s initial disappearance, volunteers worked tirelessly to distribute posters of Shaelene’s disappearance throughout the community.

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Image: Remembering Shaelene Bell Facebook

Durham believes an Amber Alert-type system for missing adults would have saved Shaelene’s life.

That’s why she continues to lobby federal and law enforcement officials for a missing adult notification platform. It comes as the second anniversary of the day that her daughter was first reported missing nears.

“I’ve been told that it’s in Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino’s hands,” Durham said. “The system for missing adults can go in today and be fast-tracked. I don’t want another family to experience what I did as a mom. How reassuring it would have been to know that it would have gone out as an alert. Time is critical in these cases.”

Durham says she’s been working with Chilliwack-Hope MP Mark Strahl to advocate for a better notification system, and has spoken to law enforcement about what it would take to see this implemented.

Image: Remembering Shaelene Bell Facebook / Alina Durham speaks at a memorial in 2022 in memory of her daughter, Shaelene Bell.

“I believe with strict criteria, this system would be for the most critical cases,” Durham said. “This is what Shaelene would stand for. She would stand for helping others and she would be a strong advocate. I’m trying to get a bill passed to honour all families with a missing adult. There’s not enough being done. It’s like the buck is being passed. I am traumatized and devastated. It is shameful that it has taken two years.”

She remains fully convinced that there’s a better system out there than the one that currently exists, and that’s essentially press releases through law enforcement.

“The Amber Alert abduction system has already been successful in the U.S.,” Durham said. “I truly believe in my heart that if this gets done, it’s going to help. It will help the system. Law enforcement are already underfunded and understaffed. This will be beneficial. All I’m looking for is an answer. That’s what I’ve been after since Day 1. Marco Mendicino can make this change to recommend a Canada-wide bill. Let’s all honor families with a missing adult. Let’s get Shaelene’s Missing Adult Alert passed.”

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino can be reached at marco.mendicino@parl.gc.ca.