CANADA Canada - Loretta Ann Frank, 19, Whitehorse, YT, 15 Nov 1989

[TheArtfulDetective]

Loretta "Lora" Ann Frank


Disappeared - 11/15/1989
Location - Whitehorse, Yukon
Age - 19
DOB - Not available, circa 1970.
Sex - Female
Height - 5'7
Weight - 110 pounds
Classification - Endangered missing
Tribal Information - Tahtlan First Nation of British Columbia.
Other - She goes by the nickname "Lora."

Characteristics

• Shoulder length, brown hair.
• Brown eyes. Lora wears prescription glasses.
• A thin build.
• Lora is diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Background
Loretta “Lora” Ann Frank is from the Tahltan First Nation in Lower Post, British Columbia- about 20 km south of the Yukon border. She had a shy disposition and was the youngest of five children.

Loretta was 19 years old when she was last seen alive in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory on November 15th, 1989.

She had previously been living with one of her brothers and his then-spouse, Patricia Macintosh, in Watson Lake, sometime in 1986 or 1987. Patricia has told the media that Social Services dropped Loretta, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, on their doorstep with little to no support. Watson Lake had no established psychiatrists, and the revolving roster of doctors meant Lora had difficulty finding adequate treatment. After one year in Watson Lake, she moved 438 km west, to Whitehorse, Yukon, where social services seemed to better suit her needs. She lived in an assisted living facility and soon found employment.

Disappearance
Lora returned to Watson Lake for Thanksgiving in 1988. She didn't like her current living situation and wanted to move back, but everybody was against it due to no support services for her being in the area. She vanished not long after returning to Whitehorse and stopped all contact with her family. Lora did not give any indication that she was planning to leave Yukon.

Lora's friends believe she may have started dating a man from Haines, Alaska around the time of her disappearance. His name and other details are unknown. They may have traveled to Haines which is located 207 km south of Whitehorse.

By early 1989, Lora’s family had begun searching for her. They say they reported her missing to police, who quickly dismissed her as a runaway. The family and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) denies having received a report until 1993, and blame her family for the delay. Loretta remains missing.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance or whereabouts of Loretta Frank, you are encouraged to contact the "M" Division RCMP Major Crime Unit at 1-867-667-5555.

Justice for Native People: Loretta Ann Frank, Missing from Yukon Territory since 1989.
Lora Frank
MISSING: Loretta "Lora" Ann Frank - 1988 - Yukon — CANADA UNSOLVED

 

[TheArtfulDetective]

Loretta Frank, Yukon woman, still missing after 25 years

Lora Frank, 19, was the youngest of five children. Her family and friends called her Lora. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was living with her brother and his spouse in Watson Lake, Yukon, where a revolving door of psychiatrists visited every month. Lora moved to Whitehorse to live in assisted living several months before she disappeared. She was last seen in the Yukon between late 1988 and early 1989. Her family tried to report her missing right away, and say the police didn’t take it seriously and she wasn’t officially reported missing until 1993. Her case remains open.

It's been more than 25 years since Loretta Frank disappeared at the age of 19.

Her family and friends call her Lora, says Terri Brown, chief of the Tahltan First Nation, speaking on the phone from Telegraph Creek, B.C.

Brown is a friend of the Frank family and says she remembers Lora and thinks about her, many people do. "I'm very troubled because she was the sweetest little girl. It's almost unbelievable."

Looking back, Brown says the story of Lora's disappearance is all too common. "Knowing what I know about missing and murdered aboriginal women, it wasn't taken seriously."

The youngest of five children, Lora grew up in Lower Post, B.C., near the Yukon border.

Before she went missing, she was living with one of her brothers and his spouse at the time, Patricia McIntosh, in Watson Lake, Yukon.

No mental health support
"Lora had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and social services had sort of brought her to us and kind of dropped her at our door with no support at all," McIntosh says. "I just feel like Lora fell between the cracks and nobody even paid any attention."

At the time, a rotating slate of psychiatrists visited Watson Lake every six months, McIntosh says. With a different doctor each time, it was always back to square one. After a year, Lora moved to Whitehorse into an assisted living situation. She got a job, but wasn't happy.

"She came home for Thanksgiving and... wanted to move back," says Watson. "It was such a hard thing. We didn't feel it was best for any of us, especially with the lack of support services for her in Watson Lake."

Lora returned to Whitehorse and soon after, disappeared. It was sometime late in 1988, or early 1989.

Her family heard she'd started dating a guy from Haines, Alaska, McIntosh says. Friends said maybe they'd gone to Alaska.

"Then suddenly there was no more hearing from Lora. We didn't hear anything from her. She was gone."

5 years before investigation
Police were informed right away that Lora was missing, says McIntosh. She says she herself spoke to police.

"They kind of shuffled it off and said 'Oh yeah, she's runaway' and stuff like that," she says. "We did go to the authorities and we sort of got a blank wall there."

The official police investigation into Lora's disappearance didn't begin for another five years.

We always hope Lora will come back.- Patricia McIntosh
"The date reported to police was 1993," says RCMP Cpl. Calista MacLeod.

MacLeod wasn't the investigator at the time, but says police files indicate that's when the family reported Lora missing.

"Her family thought she was travelling and didn't report it right away."

Terri Brown disagrees, and insists the family spoke to authorities soon after Lora's disappearance. They also looked for Lora themselves.

"It was without a doubt that she was missing," says Brown, adding the family was frustrated and is still hurt about how police responded at the time.

The five-year lag before an official investigation, she says, speaks to an overall theme of how missing and murdered First Nations women are treated.

"It's so common," she says. "We know that now looking back."

Case remains open
MacLeod says the investigation into Lora's case continues.

"We never close missing person files; they're always open."

Last year the RCMP included Lora's photo in a social media campaign of missing people. MacLeod says it generated interest in the case.

Meanwhile, Lora's family is still waiting for closure.

McIntosh says she hasn't lived with Lora's brother for 20 years, but she remains close to many members of the family.

"We always hope Lora will come back. There's always the hope."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nort...-woman-still-missing-after-25-years-1.3025916
https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/lora-ann-frank

 

[Pennysmom1]

Canada's Missing | Case details

www.services.rcmp-grc.gc.ca

Loretta (Lora) Ann Frank was last seen in Yukon Territory between late 1988 and early 1989. She was known to reside in Watson Lake and Whitehorse, Yukon as well as Lower Post, British Columbia. Loretta was reported missing in 1993. Loretta is known to have a history of mental health concerns.

Missing from Whitehorse, Yukon

Aliases FRANK, Lora Ann
FRANK, Lora

Missing since November 15, 1989
Year of birth 1970
Age at disappearance 19
Gender Female
Bio group Indigenous
Eye colour Brown
Hair Brown, Shoulder
Height 173cm / 5ft 8in
Weight 45kg / 99lb
Build Slender/Thin
Glasses Prescription glasses

Loretta Ann Frank, Missing from Yukon Territory since 1989.

A blog about the many missing, murdered, and unidentified Native/Indigenous/Aboriginal women of the United States and Canada. Say Their Names!

www.justicefornativepeople.com

<<Loretta's friends have reported that she may have been dating a man in Haines, Alaska and traveled to the state to be with him. Loretta remains missing.>>

Tribal Information: Loretta is a member of the Tahtlan First Nation of British Columbia.