“On a long weekend in the summer of 2002, Lisa Marie Young went out to celebrate a friend’s birthday. That night Lisa got into a red Jaguar with a young man from a prominent local family and was never seen again.”
A mysterious and hardly straightforward case, Island Crime tells the story of a young woman who went missing on a celebratory evening surrounded by friends.
Lisa Marie Young was an energetic and bright 21-year-old from Vancouver Island. Her disappearance on June 30, 2002 was initially played down by local authorities. Police deemed the case as that of a young woman who may have been partying too hard and failed to get in touch with family afterwards.
However, those who had been with Lisa on that night knew something was wrong. In the absence of an official search for Lisa by the police, the community initiated their own. Almost immediately, speculation concentrated on the driver of a distinctive red Jaguar. Some of the darker elements of the local Nanaimo scene came into view too.
Lisa would have turned 40-years old this week.
Island Crime host Laura Palmer originally set out to pay tribute to Lisa Marie. A former producer for CBC, Laura uncovered many new leads and witnesses while investigating for the Island Crime podcast. As a result, the mystery of Lisa’s disappearance continues to unravel.
In our episode this week, Laura details her work on the case and the impact of the investigation on Lisa Marie’s family and First Nation community. We also discuss issues surrounding institutionalised bias against indigenous Canadians.
Show notes:
About Laura Palmer
Laura Palmer is an accomplished CBC radio producer. Before moving on from her Executive Producer position, Laura produced Network radio & TV shows, racking up numerous awards and becoming a respected industry leader. Island Crime is Laura’s first independent podcast production. Season 1 ‘Where is Lisa?’ shot up the Apple podcast charts in the summer of 202 and is now one of Canada’s top True Crime podcasts.