Missing woman Jaqueline McDermott: An adventurous tattoo artist from Ontario

The mother of missing woman Jaqueline McDermott describes her daughter as kind, positive, adventurous and artistic.

“She is such a light, and she always sees the light in other people,” she said. “She embraces all the beautiful things in the world.” 

McDermott, 22, was reported missing last week, Oct. 1 and was last seen on Highway 97 between Merritt and Logan Lake, according to an RCMP media release.

She has not been heard from since Sept. 29, 2022. 

McDermott has been out west for six months since she travelled across the country in a retrofitted van from her home in Kitchener, Ontario.

She is an adventurer, a traveller, a tattoo artist and a tree planter.

“She took my husband’s old contractor van and turned it into a tiny house on wheels," said mom Nathalie St-Maurice. "She did a really good job, I was impressed. She drove across the country by herself. I have always admired her adventurous spirit and wished I could be a bit more like her." 

St-Maurice said her daughter spent some time in the summer planting trees for a company in Hinton, Alberta. She set up a mobile tattoo studio in her van. 

“She is an artist and attended the University of Ottawa fine arts program for a couple of years," St-Maurice said. "She is always drawing and sketching and taking photos of beautiful things." 

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St-Maurice said her daughter was going to a yoga retreat in Merritt with plans to meet friends afterward to do some exploring before heading back to Vancouver where she has friends and tattoo clients. 

“She and her friends were thinking about heading to California to live during colder weather.” 

McDermott’s vehicle was recently found by police broken down on Highway 97 between Merritt and Logan Lake. 

St-Maurice said her daughter was last seen on the morning of Oct. 1 putting gas into her van with a jerry can and her van was found abandoned later that day.

"All of her personal possessions and identification were left in the van," she said. "There is a good probability she left her van and got into a vehicle which is where we need continued help to get this information out to as many people as possible."

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Every moment that passes without answers about her daughter’s whereabouts is agony for St-Maurice, who is in Kitchener where the whole family lives.

“She is so loved and loves her friends and family,” St-Maurice said. “Her family in Ontario is worried sick, grandparents, aunts and uncles, we are all beyond words, the not-knowing is excruciating. We just need her back.”

Police describe McDermott as a 22-year-old female, 5’5” tall, 111 lb. with medium build, curly blonde hair and a fair complexion. She has a nose piercing.

“Currently search and rescue from Kamloops, Merritt and Logan Lake are working tirelessly in the Mamit Lake area around where her van was located,” said spokesperson for the Merritt RCMP Sgt.  Josh Roda. “We are encouraging anyone with information to come forward.”   

If you see McDermott, or know where she may be, you are asked to contact Merritt RCMP at 250-378-4262.

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