BC Transit Corporate Security teams with Saanich PD to locate missing youth
Every minute counts when someone is missing, and on February 6, the quick work of Corporate Investigator Leah Jackson helped police refine their search and reach a positive conclusion with a missing at-risk youth in Saanich.
Leah was the on-call Investigator that day, when the call came in from Saanich Constable Connor Marchant, who said that a missing teenage girl was seen getting on a bus at Uptown heading towards Sidney. At that point he didn’t even have a photo to share with Leah, just a rough description.
“It was the middle of the day and there are a lot of people on those buses, but fortunately the missing person had purple hair,” said Leah Jackson. “That gave me pretty much all I needed to start my search. I was able to remote download Route 70 CCTV footage, which saved me a lot of time. I was actually able to locate her pretty quickly, right around the same time that I got a photo from Constable Marchant.”
The police were under the impression that the girl was meeting up with someone in Sidney, but CCTV footage showed her getting off at the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal. Leah handed that off to the police, thinking her involvement might be completed.
“It turned out she didn’t get on a boat and was meeting up with a guy. They both got back on the same Route 70 bus heading into town, so Constable Marchant reconnected with me, and I was able to tell him that they got off at Cloverdale. At that point my work was done.”
Corporate Investigators are used to not getting closure on their investigations, but they’d all agree it’s nice when they find out there’s a positive outcome. So when Constable Marchant reached out to Manager of Security and Emergency Management Nigel Couch with these kind words, it was greatly appreciated.
I would like to commend Leah for her work with me on February 6th, 2025, during a rapidly changing situation involving a missing youth from the Saanich area. I was put in contact with Leah to help locate the youth who was using public transit in order to potentially leave the island. Throughout the investigation, Leah showed a high standard of skill and professionalism when receiving requests from me.
Through Leah’s investigative skill she was able to locate the missing person off a written description and older photograph, which took my investigation from a Lower Mainland file back to a local Island file. Leah’s work was in no small part what enabled us to locate the youth here in Saanich and not continue looking for her on the mainland.
I am writing as one patrol constable from Saanich Police and not on behalf of the department, but please extend my appreciation for Leah’s performance to BC Transit.
Leah Jackson’s road to joining the BC Transit Corporate Security team has been long and winding. It started out with her behind the wheel in Edmonton as an Operator roughly 17 years ago, and then as their equivalent to a Transit Supervisor. Leah moved to Victoria seven years ago and joined the BC Transit Scheduling team before her shift to Corporate Security in May of 2023. Her wide knowledge base serves Leah well in her current role, and specifically in situations like this one which require a good understanding of routes and travel patterns. “It is always nice to have work recognized and especially where our team has an integral part in supporting an investigation,” said Nigel Couch, Manager of Security and Emergency Management. “Leah is a true professional and always goes out of her way to do the best she can to get the job done.”
This is just one example of how Corporate Security supports bus safety and police investigations across the province. Keep an eye out for a Transit Operator and Worker Appreciation Day video that highlights their work – coming soon!
