The family of a missing Moncton woman has raised $8,000 in the hopes someone will come forward with information on her whereabouts.
“We haven’t seen Jami or spoken to her since August,” said Gillian Fletcher, Jami Springer’s mother, in a video statement released Thursday.
“We love her dearly and we desperately want to know if she’s safe and where she is.”
Springer was last seen walking on McLaughlin Drive the afternoon of Aug. 31. She was reported missing by her family on Sept. 4.
Police say it is unusual for Springer to be out of contact with her family for an extended period of time and they are treating her disappearance as suspicious.
“We know that someone out there knows something about her disappearance. These things don't just happen in a vacuum,” says Const. Hans Ouellette of New Brunswick RCMP.
Her family raised $8,000 through a GoFundMe page and donated the money to Crime Stoppers, which was already offering $2,000 for information on Springer’s whereabouts, bringing the total cash reward to $10,000.
A Crime Stoppers spokesperson says money doesn't necessarily equal answers.
“It's a little more than doing the right thing, it's more of the clearing your conscience,” says Crime Stoppers Provincial police coordinator Tammy Ward. “The family definitely deserves some closure, whatever that might be.”
“We know someone out there knows something,” said Fletcher. “You don’t have to give us your name. All you have to do is just tell us where she is.”
Surrounded by Springer’s father and brother, Fletcher thanked those who have helped look for her daughter, donated money, and prayed for her family. She also made an emotional plea to her daughter.
“Jami, honey, if you see this, please know that every single morning when I wake up I pray and I hope that this is the day we are going to hear from you and we’re going to find out that you’re safe and OK,” she said, fighting back tears.
“We have not given up on her. If you have any information please call Crime Stoppers. Please help us find Jami.”
RCMP couldn't comment on which leads they are following, but Const. Oullette says they're regularly checking up on the tips that are coming in.
“People tell us different stories all the time that she's alive, that she's passed away, so we don't know what to believe until we do find her,” says Springer's boyfriend Justin Smith.
Smith says he hasn't seen or heard from Springer since the night of Aug. 31.
“She said she'd be home in about an hour and she had messaged me and told me she was coming home, around 8 o'clock on the same night,” says Smith. “I said, 'OK, I'll see you soon,' and she never arrived.”
The 28-year-old woman is described as Caucasian, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. She is five-foot-four inches tall and weighs roughly 106 pounds.
Her tattoos include a flower on her upper back, a butterfly on her lower back that extends around her waist, a multi-coloured tattoo of a birthday cake, along with other various tattoos on the upper part of her right arm and a red, white and blue Popsicle on the inner part of her upper right arm.
Springer also has a large tattoo of the Lord’s Prayer that goes the entire length of her thigh on the left leg.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Cami Kepke