A B.C. family is trying to find a woman who disappeared nearly two months ago and hopes by sharing their story she’ll come back safely.
Tara Moran was last seen on Jan. 31 in Merritt. The 27-year-old was living at a shelter and has struggled with mental health and substance abuse for nearly five years.
Her older sister Caitlin Moran, 29, fears she could be in danger due to her high-risk lifestyle and health.
“We really want her to come back home and accept help,” she says. “Give her the life she deserves.”
Caitlin says the two have not been close the last few years due to her to alcohol and methamphetamine addiction.
“We grew apart,” she says. “It’s been a struggle.”
Despite this, Caitlin’s been posting on social media and desperately searching for her sister.
The family has offered Tara options for rehabilitation and mental health resources, but Caitlin says they couldn't force her to get treatment.
“It’s been very difficult,” she says. “We tried having her here [in the family house], but it was just too volatile. It wasn’t helping her.”
Her parents spoke to Tara multiple times a month while she was living at the shelter.
“We’ve been trying to convince her to go to rehab for a while now. We were trying to get her to a place on Vancouver Island. We also tried doing an intervention around Christmas,” Caitlin says. “It’s so hard with someone in a dire mental state. It’s so hard to get them committed.”
Caitlin explains how the journey to get her help has taken a toll on the family.
“It’s been extremely overwhelming … I really want to support her.”
The family has reason to believe she might be in Vancouver, specifically the Downtown Eastside. Earlier in March, Caitlin and her father travelled to the area looking for her.
"We went to all the safe [injection] sites, women's shelters [and] food kitchens. I posted up posters at a lot of high-traffic areas,” she says.
After a few days, they had no new information or sightings. Caitlin hopes if her sister reads this, that she will consider coming back to Merritt.
“Please come back. We can put everything behind us and I want to help you and support you in your sobriety, and getting healthy,” she says. "Mom and Dad, we're here for you and we just want to know you're OK at the least.”
She says just because her sister struggles with her mental health and addiction, does not mean she doesn’t deserve to be found and have a chance at getting support.
Tara is described as being friendly and outgoing, five-foot-11 and about 141 pounds. She has black hair that she wears in pigtails and hazel brown eyes.
She also has a small black tattoo behind her ear in the shape of a heart.
“We love her. I love her. And we just want her to be safe, and be OK,” Caitlin says.
Anyone with information about Tara's whereabouts is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
