In the summer of 1964, a 53-year-old Indigenous woman named Emma Dixon vanished from her home on the Union Bar Reserve near Hope, British Columbia. The last time she was seen was on July 22, 1964. Known to sometimes use the surnames Charlie and Wells, her disappearance would become a long-standing mystery, leaving her family and community with unanswered questions for decades.
At the time she went missing, she was described as a petite woman, standing 5'3' and weighing around 115 pounds.
It was nearly a month after she was last seen that her husband officially reported her missing to the authorities on August 20, 1964. He suggested that she might have traveled to Washington state in the United States for work. However, this explanation was contradicted by the fact that Emma had not mentioned any such plans to any of her other relatives or friends. Adding to the unsettling nature of her disappearance, all of her personal belongings were found left behind in her home.
The investigation into Emma Dixon's disappearance was opened by the Hope detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and remains an active and unsolved case. The lack of communication from Emma and the fact that she left without any of her possessions have been troubling aspects of the case from the beginning. Over the years, her case has been highlighted as one of many unsolved disappearances of Indigenous women in Canada, a deeply concerning and tragic issue. The overview of this case is one of a sudden and unexplained disappearance, a delayed reporting, and a lingering sense of uncertainty that has persisted for over half a century.Last Seen: Jul 22, 1964
