But as the community prospered, trouble grew. According to B.C. Emergency Health Services, overdose calls in the community exploded almost five-fold, from 48 in 2016 to 234 in 2023. Since 2021, 44 people in the region have died from an overdose.

The biggest killer, by far, is fentanyl. Seventy-nine per cent of the northern health region’s drug overdoses were caused by the synthetic opioid in 2023.

In 2021, a man was found dead on a rural road, south of Dawson Creek. His car had been set on fire. In January 2023, there was the double killing in Mile Zero Trailer Park. In April 2023, a body was found under a historic trestle bridge west of Dawson Creek.

Then, following in quick succession, several more killings and mysterious disappearances, including cousins Renee Didier and Daralyn Supernant and a young man passing through town.

Eleven missing or killed in total. All of them unsolved to this day.