'We were privileged to be friends with our sister': Family mourns murdered N.S. woman

More than a month after the murder of Nova Scotia woman Esther Jones, her family continues to grapple with the loss.

Two days before Jones went missing, her sister Mary Harvey spoke with her.

“I got a phone call on Labour Day asking had I seen her and I was like, ‘No, I talked with her on Saturday.’ So I said you know what I better go over to the family and see what everyone knows.”

Unable to get a hold of Jones after 48 hours, the family called the police.

“She was independent so no one hovered over her. I was, like, she was just getting over our mother’s death two weeks before that, did she just need a break?” wondered Harvey.

It was unusual for Jones to be unreachable, but Harvey said that because the circumstances were unusual, they believed Jones would return home soon.

Jones is one of 15 siblings who live in different parts of North America. Throughout this time, the family kept up with information through group chats and email chains.

“It was a rollercoaster of emotions. Everyone was hoping that she had decided to take herself on vacation. Your brain goes through best-case scenarios and worst-case scenarios,” said Michelle Noseworthy, Jones’ youngest sister. “And because there’s so many of us, our emotions were all over the place.”

The siblings’ hope Jones would return was shattered when police informed them it was a homicide.

“We are trying to manage our fears, our loss, and all of the emotions that carry you at a time like this, while also balancing the need to accept that she’s gone and organize a memorial for her,” said Harvey as her eyes filled with tears.

Photos of Esther Jones are pictured. (Source: Hafsa Arif/CTV News Atlantic)

The family has organized a celebration of life to remember Jones, but it has been difficult, especially since her remains have yet to be found.

“Sometimes I think that I don’t have to have physical remains to move on and then sometimes… It’s just an emotional rollercoaster. It’s hard,” said Harvey.

“It definitely is odd. The wondering is hard and trying to stop the wondering is challenging because your mind can go to the worst-case scenario so fast. I’m just trying to stop worrying about things I can control,” said Noseworthy.

Her siblings said Jones had been struggling with their mother’s loss.

“Esther took it a lot harder. She blamed herself, she said, saying things like, ‘I should have done a better job,’ and we’d try to tell her, ‘No, you did everything you could’. She only had 20 days to process that before she died.”

Jones, 55, was last seen at Kingston Bible College late August

Two months after her disappearance, rows of purple ribbons remain tied to trees on the college’s property. Remnants of a memorial started by the community sits by the doorsteps.

A memorial set up for Esther Jones at Kingston Bible College in Nova Scotia. (Source: Hafsa Arif/CTV News Atlantic)

“I was just looking at the outpouring of love from the community and I didn’t even know what to make of it. Esther didn’t feel like she meant anything to anybody,” said Noseworthy. “She didn’t feel like anybody really noticed her. She had no idea the thousands of people that her life touched. She didn’t realize how much her life mattered to so many people.”

Her sisters describe Jones a lover of music and animals and say she had lots of plans for her future.

“At mom’s funeral at the gravesite, I asked her what was next for her. She said she is figuring it out. She was talking about going and getting her masters. That was something she really wanted to do. She said, ‘I’m trying to figure out how to afford it’. She was going to get her masters in music,” said Noseworthy, holding back tears.

“She did nothing half,” Harvey said, noting her sister’s determination as a young person.

“There were so many of us and so we all took turns sharing bedrooms, so for awhile when I was her bedroom mate, the things I remember is always practicing her instruments. She would go early, early in the morning to the school by herself and play her instruments for an hour or two every morning,” said Noseworthy. “I looked up to her.”

Harvey described Jones as someone who kept every memory neatly tucked away and preserved everything she owned to keep it “new.”

“Everything still had been wrapped. She was very organized and labelled everything,” Harvey said.

The toughest part for the family was clearing Jones’ belongings in her apartment.

“I know my brother even said, ‘What if she was still to walk back in and we’re going through her things?’ He said it doesn’t feel right, we shouldn’t be going through her things. That was a hard point,” said Noseworthy.

Esther Jones' family say she loved animals. (Source: Family of Esther Jones)

Going through the apartment with her siblings, Noseworthy said it gave them a chance to learn more about Jones.

“We all had completely different relationship with her. Even now through each other we are learning whole new sides of who she was as a person,” she said.

Many of the siblings’ memories growing up revolve around music.

“It was the music that was our connection. She always encouraged me even as the youngest of the girls,” said Noseworthy.

Which is why the celebration of life will include her siblings playing music in her honour.

“We were privileged to be friends with our sister,” said Noseworthy.

While sorting through Jones’ belongings, Noseworthy stumbled upon her sister’s clarinet, which she has decided to keep and will use to play a song with Harvey during the celebration of life.

In preparation of Jones’ memorial, each of the siblings have been rehearsing.

Mary Harvey and Michelle Noseworthy rehearse for a memorial for Esther Jones. (Source: Hafsa Arif/CTV News Atlantic)

For the memorial, the family has digitized pictures of Jones and the family. As they sift through them, it brings a flicker of comfort to Noseworthy and Harvey. It is a moment of escape from the reality, which they still struggle with.

“I’ve tried in the last few weeks to think of funny things and happy things and I haven’t been able to yet. It’s still hard. They will come back because we grew up together but it’s still the sadness that is most of what I am going through right now,” said Harvey.

The search for Jones’ remains continues.

The celebration of her life takes place on Monday at 10 a.m. at Acadia University, and the public is invited to attend. The family has also started a fundraiser to help support the travel of family to attend the event. 

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