As homicide investigators continue to probe the mysterious disappearance of Jessica Cunningham following the discovery of human remains inside her Maple Ridge home, friends of the missing woman have organized a candlelight vigil.
Neighbours said Cunningham lived in the home on Gillis Place with her partner Mylie Barron, who was arrested Aug. 26 and remains in custody charged with interfering with or offering an indignity to a dead body or human remains.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has said it’s too early to determine whether Cunningham’s case involves alleged intimate partner violence.
But Cunningham’s longtime friend Krissy Rasko credits Cunningham with saving her from an abusive partner more than a decade ago.
“She saved me from my own relationship,” Rasko told Global News in an interview. “That’s how close we were.”
Rasko said she met Cunningham around 14 years ago, when they worked together as servers at a Red Robin restaurant in Surrey.
“She lit the place up for not only for the staff, but every single customer there,” recalled Rasko, who said the pair instantly clicked.
“We bonded really, really strongly there. She was family.”
Cunningham, who is originally from Vancouver Island, returned to the Victoria area before moving back to the Lower Mainland, said Rasko.
Rasko said she last saw her friend over lunch in 2023. At that time, Cunningham had returned to work at the same restaurant where they built their friendship years earlier.
The friends lost touch that year, said Rasko, when she became busy with her DJ work and later focused on her own recovery following a car crash in July.
When she learned Cunningham’s partner had been arrested and charged after unidentified human remains were found on Aug. 26 inside the cul-de-sac home they shared, she was shocked.
“You feel helpless, you feel gutted,” Rasko said. “I can’t describe it any other way.”
Police said Cunningham, 43, was last seen in June and was reported missing to Ridge Meadows RCMP in July.
On Aug. 28, IHIT announced it had taken conduct of Cunningham’s missing person investigation, and that criminality was suspected.
IHIT did not respond to Global News on Wednesday when asked who had reported Cunningham missing, whether her Gillis Place home was searched by police after the missing person report but prior to the Aug. 26 search, and whether the human remains found have been officially identified yet.
“If she was here, she would hold me, she would just hug me so tight,” said Rasko. “I can still feel those hugs.”
Rasko said she was struggling when she moved to Vancouver from Edmonton in 2010, following the loss of her son to stillbirth, and found herself in an unhealthy “dependency fueled” relationship.
She said she confided in Cunningham, who selflessly intervened.
“She got her truck to my place, packed all my stuff and said nobody can ever treat me like that. She came, she took me,” said an emotional Rasko. “And she saved me, took me to her home, let me stay in her basement suite for seven months while she stayed away.”
To honour her friend and victims of intimate partner violence, Rasko is hosting a candlelight vigil Sunday evening outside Cunningham’s home in the 22800 block of Gillis Place in Maple Ridge.
“It’s important for us to recognize her and not what happened,” said Rasko.
Rasko said family and friends will gather to share stories, memories and a moment of silence for all who have lost their lives in senseless acts.
“Remembering our friend and what she gave to us, not what was taken away,” said Rasko.
Cunningham’s family declined an on-camera interview.
In a statement provided to Global News, her cousin said: “We are all in shock and deeply heartbroken over what has happened. Jessy was a fierce protector of her family and friends, and I know she would be honoured to see her loved ones gathered in her memory at the candlelight vigil.”
“I wanted her to be the fun aunt to my kids, I wanted to go on girlfriend getaways together, none of that’s going to happen now,” said Rasko.
Cunningham’s happy-go-lucky, super-positive charged laugh, is something Rasko said will always stick with her.
“It’ll likely haunt me a long time. Cause of just how you can’t forget it, you can’t forget her giggle, you just can’t.”