True Crime Collection

Lisa Marie Young

Lisa Marie Young was born 5th May, 1981 in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Lisa was the eldest child and only daughter of Don Young and Marelene "Joanne" Martin. She had 2 young brothers, Brian and Robin. Marelene was a member of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation on the west coast of Vancouver Island and both of her parents attended Kakawis Residential School on nearby Meares Island. 

Lisa was very close to her family. Marelene described her as an independent woman who was a hard worker with a hard head, and had "inner strength that was totally awesome." 

At the time of Lisa's disappearance, her father was helping her move into her own apartment in northern Nanaimo, something she was excited about. Lisa was also preparing to start a job at a call centre within 2 days of her disappearance, and considered pursuing higher education, with the hopes of becoming a television sports broadcaster. 

On the night of 29th June, 2002, Lisa left her parents' residence at 11:00pm to go to a nightclub with several friends. Her parents found it strange, as Lisa had a busy schedule for the week. Lisa spent the night at a nightclub in Downtown Nanaimo called Jungle where she and several friends celebrated the birthday of a friend, Dallas Hulley. After the nightclub closed at 2:30am on 30th June, 2002, one of Lisa's friends began a conversation with Christopher William Adair, who offered them a ride to a house party in southern Nanaimo in his red Jaguar. Despite just meeting him, Lisa and friends accepted the offer. 

The group spent an hour at the first house party before moving onto a second house party. At the second house party, Lisa became hungry, but could not find anything to eat at the party because she was vegetarian. Christopher offered to take her to a nearby sandwich shop, which Lisa accepted. The last time Lisa was seen was around 3:00am, where she was leaving the house party with Christopher. 

Not long after Lisa left the party, Dallas received a phone call from her. She told him Christopher did not take her to a fast food restaurant nor drop her off at home, but instead she was sitting in his car in a driveway and Christopher would not let her leave. The final time Lisa contacted Dallas was at 4:30am, when she sent him a text message reading: "Come get me, they won't let me leave." Lisa's final phone signals were from the Departure Bay area of Nanaimo. Family members of Lisa have never heard anything about her cellphone being traced down and do not know what happened to it. 

On 30th June, 2002, Lisa's parents failed to hear from her. At first, they thought it was possible Lisa was too busy to answer her phone, but grew concerned when Lisa's former roommate visited to ask of Lisa's whereabouts. After calling every phone number in her phonebook, Lisa's parents contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment in Nanaimo. In the beginning, Lisa's parents were told to call when she had been missing for over 48 hours, however an RCMP officer came over to the Young household later that evening to ask questions and get Lisa's picture. A few days later, the RCMP told Lisa's parents that her disappearance was being investigated by their Serious Crime Unit.

Christopher William Adair was interviewed 2 months after Lisa's disappearance. Christopher was previously convicted of assault, fraud, and theft in Kamloops, British Columbia, and authorised use of credit cards in Edmonton, Alberta. Lisa's mother spoke with Christopher in a police interrogation room. Prior to the meeting, she was asked to bring pictures of Lisa as a child, with the hopes of guilt tripping him into confessing. She asked him of Lisa's whereabouts, where he responded with: "I can't. I'm sorry, I don't mean to disrespect your family." Authorities refuse to confirm the validity of this conversation. Christopher's car belonged to his grandmother, Geraldine "Gerry" Adair, who was a prominent member of the business community in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia. She died in 2011. 

Allison Crowe, a friend of Lisa's, has since produced and released a song titled "Lisa's Song" in memory of Lisa.

Lisa's mother experienced health complications after Lisa vanished. Before Marelene died on 21st June, 2017, she had been taking dialysis, suffered from hypertension, and was on a waiting list for a kidney transplant. Marelene's family members believe the cause of her deteriorating health was from the stress of not knowing what happened to her daughter. Marelene's sister, Carol Frank, revealed that Marelene tried to hide her and Lisa's First Nations ancestry from the public, out of fear that Lisa would be assumed to be a sex worker, an alcohol or drug addict, or living on the streets.

Dallas, the last person to hear from Lisa, died on 25th March, 2018. While walking along British Columbia Highway 19A with a 27 year old female friend at 1:00am, he stepped into the northbound lane to retrieve something he had dropped, only to be struck by a car. He was pronounced dead at 6:15am the same day. Although the 62 year old female driver was driving at least 10 kilometres under the speed limit, she was unable to avoid him, due to the lack of reflective clothing. He was 38 years old at the time of his death.