Community members from Forest Grove, B.C., and the surrounding areas rallied on Saturday to raise awareness about the mysterious disappearance of Jennifer Provencal nine months ago.
“No one has seen her, no one knows what’s happened to her,” Forest Grove resident Anita Coombe said. “Where is Jennifer? What happened?”
“How does somebody just disappear in thin air?” asked Forest Grove resident Tracy Huber.
Coombe and her husband Graham are hoping to help answer those questions by organizing weekly walks for Provencal, a mother of three sons who had lived in the small unincorporated community just off Highway 97 near 100 Mile House, for almost two decades.
Provencal, 51, was last seen Feb. 5 by her husband, who previously told Global News they had an argument at home that morning.
Tom Boulding claimed he left to get hay and returned to the rural property he shares with Provencal and her youngest son, to find her gone.
Provencal’s sister in Montreal, Johanne Provencal, reported Jennifer missing to 100 Mile House RCMP on April 21, the day she said to spoke with Boulding and learned her sister hadn’t been seen in two and a half months.
Police said they suspect foul play.
“There didn’t really seem to be anybody in the area advocating for her,” Graham Coombe told Global News in an interview.
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“Many people go missing,” said Anita Coombe. “I would like to hope that they all have someone that will stand up for them.”
When the Coombes organized the first ‘Walk for Jennifer Provencal’ on Nov. 1, about seven people came out.
The second community event on Nov. 8 saw more than two dozen turn out in Forest Grove, which has a population of 338.
“We care very, very much about the fact that she is missing,” said 100 Mile House area resident Erin Meyer.
Suzanne Paquette said she’s lived in Forest Grove for 35 years.
“I think it’s really, really important that we stand together as a community just with our support and our love and our caring for the people that did know her and have not been able to find her,” Paquette told Global News.
Like most of the people who attended Saturday, Kylie Thomas said she doesn’t know Provencal but hoped she could help highlight the missing person case.
“So they can figure out where Jennifer might be,” the 100 Mile House area resident told Global News.
“She just looked like somebody I would have known and liked,” said Lac la Hache resident Diane Knight. “I thought, you know, I just can’t let this go unanswered and unknown and I just feel for her family.”
In an interview last month, Provencal’s husband said he didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance.
“No, I did not,” Boulding said on Oct. 1. “I came home and she was just gone, like I have nothing beyond that. I am in the dark about all of it.”
Boulding said he has no idea what could have happened to Jennifer. He said he did not kill his wife, and believes she’s still alive.
“Because she’s a strong, independent woman, knows how to take care of herself and yeah, I just refuse to believe that she’s dead,” Boulding said.
Provencal’s property has been searched by the RCMP, including in early October, but police are releasing few details as Major Crimes leads the investigation.
\RCMP continue to seek tips from the public and anyone with information is encouraged to come forward.
“I think it’s gotten us all upset and concerned,” Huber told Global News. “We need answers. We want to know where she is, what happened to her. Her sister deserves that.”
“Maybe we get somebody to remember something or any little bit helps,” said Graham Coombe.
“You never know who might remember something and maybe this is the thing that jogs their memory,” added Meyer.
Another ‘Walk for Jennifer Provencal’ is planned for Sat. Nov. 15 in Forest Grove.
“I hope they bring her home,” said Knight.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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