Family pleads for help finding missing St. Catharines mother of 2
In an emotional video, the family of a St. Catharines woman missing since Dec. 31 is pleading for the public's help in finding her.
Katrina Blagdon, 37, was last seen on New Year's Eve at a takeout restaurant in the area of Vansickle Road North and Martindale Road in St. Catharines.
A police investigation was launched within days of her disappearance, including to make use of the service's marine and canine units.
For more than six weeks, Blagdon's family and friends have carried out their own searches in St. Catharines, as well as Thorold and Niagara-on-the-Lake.
They have spread the word through social media and posters, and green ribbons.
The video can be viewed on the Niagara Regional Police website NiagaraPolice.ca/en/news.
In it, her mother, Bonita Leights, speaking in a trembling voice, says, If Trina can see this, I would like Trina to come home to us.
To be with us, and give her all the love and guidance and support that we want to give her. We love her very much, and a piece of us is missing right now."
In an interview Tuesday, Katrina Blagdon's older sister, Kelly, said it's been the most harrowing time of our lives, honestly."
She called it extremely out of character" for Katrina to leave without telling anyone in the family.
Police have stayed in regular contact with the family, said Kelly Blagdon.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Niagara Regional Police described it as a missing person case with numerous calls from the community."
Kelly said based on what investigators have told her family, they believe 100 per cent that the circumstances are suspicious, that is what the detective says."
She said her sister left without her purse, wallet or bank card: She doesn't have her vehicle, she doesn't have her house keys, she doesn't have a change of clothes.
She didn't take anything except for a phone that she hasn't used since 6 p.m. on New Year's Eve."
Katrina Blagdon is described as white, five-foot-four with a slim build, dirty-blonde hair and tattoos.
Retired from the Canadian military on long-term disability with pension, she moved to St. Catharines in 2015 and owns her home but planned to sell it and return to Nova Scotia this spring.
She didn't have a care in the world" besides raising her two teenaged sons, her sister said.
She had no other family in Niagara, and at various times seven family members have been here to take part in searches, including her mother and stepfather Shawn Muma.
We will not leave," said Kelly Blagdon, who lives in Ottawa but has rented a place in Niagara since early January.
In addition to local residents familiar with Niagara's terrain, many of the searchers have been current and former military members.
In the police video, Kelly Blagdon describes her sister as someone who would never, ever do this, leave her family."
She encompasses family and friends and warmth and love, this is not (like) Trina to leave us all in the dark for over a month now, especially her two boys."
When she was last seen, she was driving a lime green Jeep. Early on, police asked businesses in the area to check security camera footage for images of her or the Jeep.
A GoFundMe page was started to assist with expenses related to the search and help cover costs for Blagdon's family while they stay in Niagara. As of Tuesday, it had collected just more than $10,800 toward a $12,000 goal.
In an update posted Feb. 7, sisters Kelly and Shelly Blagdon said they were able to obtain legal counsel with respect to the protection of our sister's assets for her children."
Police ask anyone with information that could help with the search for Katrina Blagdon to contact investigators at 905-688-4111, dial option 3 and ext. 1008429 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
NOTE: This article was updated Wednesday, Feb. 16 to include the comment from Niagara Regional Police.
Gord Howard is a St. Catharines-based reporter with the Standard. Reach him via email: gord.howard@niagaradailies.com