User:ArielMais/sandbox

False claims
Within 2 weeks of Young's disappearance, members of her extended family received several phone calls from unknown callers claiming that Young's body had been located in nearby Lantzville. Young's foster sister, Caroline Hunt, received at least 15 calls with similar claims. RCMP stated that a week earlier, similar rumours had appeared on multiple online chat sites, therewith claiming that Young's body was located in the nearby town of Ladysmith. In August 2003, RCMP issued a second statement refuting new claims that had surfaced again saying that Young's body has been recovered. The statement went on to explain that these rumours were causing a great deal of anguish and distress for Young's family.

Similarities in the false claims, along with the incidents each started and stopped within short, specific intervals which aligned with spikes in investigative activity, later raised questions as to whether the misinformation was purposive such as an attempt to distract investigators and the public, rather than being senseless hoaxes, as was initially assumed by media and the RCMP.

Connection to Makayla Chang murder
Makayla Chang was a 16-year-old girl from Nanaimo who was murdered in 2017. In January 2020, RCMP arrested a "person of interest" related to that case. Chang's parents were inadvertently informed of the arrest only when two RCMP investigators arrived at their residence with a question for Chang’s mother "regarding information they were following up on in the investigation into Lisa Marie Young’s disappearance" and it was during the conversation that the parents first became aware that a suspect in their own daughter's murder investigation had been arrested.

In April 2017, RCMP performed a ground search at Colliery Dam Park, in an attempt to locate Chang's body. They later said, "there is nothing to indicate she may be there, we are just being thorough in our investigation." The search took place 10 days after Chang was reported missing; the Colliery Dam area has never been searched in relation to Young's disappearance, despite the location having seemingly tenuous ties to Young's case.

In May 2017, RCMP announced that they had identified Chang's remains, but would not confirm the location or circumstances. There has been no public explanation of how the two investigations are connected.

New information
In June 2021, Cpl. Muntener said new information has come to light. Muntener said there is information he can’t share, as it is an active investigation, but police have "completed numerous searches in the last year" based on new information coming in, and "those searches were extensive and detailed and we have more of those searches planned in the future." Cpl. Muntener described the case as an "active and ongoing large-scale investigation involving some 15,000 documents and hundreds of witnesses."

That was the last time RCMP made public statement about Young's disappearance.

Locations
Below is a list of the ground/water searches performed by Tla-o-qui-aht tribal Search & Rescue (TSR) teams and other family members and volunteers, within the Nanaimo area between July 2002 and July 2003, and both known RCMP ground searches (Sept 2002, Dec 2020). Other Nanaimo locations of significance are also listed. The list does not include several additional locations searched by the TSR, "between Coombs and Tofino".