The summer of 2025 brought the mystery of a local woman’s disappearance, which turned into a tragedy with the discovery of her remains at her home.
Police announced they were looking for Jessica Cunningham, 43, in late August, after she was reported missing in July. She had not been seen since June.
Remains were discovered inside her Maple Ridge home on Aug. 26, and within weeks they were confirmed to belong to the missing woman.
That day, Ridge Meadows RCMP officers were at her home in the 22800-block of Gillis Place gathering information for the missing person investigation when they made the discovery.
On Sept. 7, about a dozen friends and family members gathered in front of her home to memorialize Cunningham.
Her friend Krissy Rasko said Cunningham had a gift for bringing people together, and they lit candles and observed a moment of silence, placed candles around her photo, and released a lantern into the night sky.
Many more of her friends across Western Canada watched online.
Rasko called it “A beautiful sendoff to a beautiful soul.”
She said Cunnningham’s loved ones would wait for the truth to come out.
As the year closed, a Maple Ridge man pleaded guilty to a charge of interference with human remains, on Oct. 23 in Provincial Court in Port Coquitlam.
Mylie Andre Barron, who had been Cunningham’s partner, was held in custody. A psychological assessment is part of a pre-sentencing report being prepared for the judge.
Barron is scheduled to appear in court again on Jan. 20, 2026, in Provincial Court, for review of the pre-sentence report.
Meanwhile, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team confirmed it is still investigating the case and can’t comment on whether more charges are expected.