In September 2020, 24-year-old Chelsea Poorman went missing from Vancouver, Canada. Last seen in the early morning hours on Granville Street, Chelsea disappeared without a trace. Her family reported her missing two days later, launching a search that would stretch on for nearly nineteen months.

In April 2022, contractors made a shocking discovery: Chelsea’s skeletal remains were found in the backyard of a long-vacant mansion in Vancouver’s Shaughnessy neighbourhood. Police later stated her death was “not suspicious,” suggesting she likely died shortly after her disappearance. But for Chelsea’s family and Indigenous advocates, that conclusion only deepened the mystery. How did Chelsea—who lived with cognitive and mobility challenges—end up behind a locked, abandoned property blocks away from where she was last seen? And how could she have remained undiscovered for so long?

In this episode, we walk through Chelsea Poorman’s disappearance, the controversial investigation that followed, and the unanswered questions that continue to haunt her case—while examining the broader systemic failures surrounding missing Indigenous women in Canada, and the ongoing fight for accountability and justice.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact the Vancouver Police Department at 604-717-3321. 

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Children 24/7 Support Line: 1-844-413-6649.

RESOURCES:

Bring My Sister Chelsea Home" (Facebook Group)

"Chelsea Poorman's body lay in Shaughnessy for more than a year. But her death was not considered suspicious" (CBC News)

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