MISSING: WHERE IS JAMES CANDY?

With no evidence of a crime, the mystery of a missing Alberta teen remains unsolved.

By M.J. Preston

August 6, 2017

Vegreville, Alberta

James Nestor Candy

Sometime during the night, 17-year-old James Nestor Candy climbed from his bedroom window and vanished.  According to Canadasmissing.ca, 31,387 people went missing in 2018, and many of those were young people. Missing persons can be attributed to everything from parental abduction to a kid that has just wandered off. Often these kids can be tracked to cities, but the vast numbers coupled to limited resources make it an overwhelming task for police and families. The fact is that if your teenage kid runs away and they really don’t want to be found, locating them can prove very problematic. Drawing that conclusion, an outsider might say, “Just another runaway. They’ll turn up in Vancouver or Toronto.” After all, young people run away from home for a myriad of reasons.  
  
So, when James Candy’s father, Colin Candy, found his son’s window open on that morning, he wasn’t immediately alarmed. 

But as the morning unfolded and clues to James disappearance began to come to light, a search for this missing teenager was conducted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, volunteers, and family. On that morning when Colin found his son’s room empty, he first noticed that the window was open and living in the country, the room was full of mosquitos. 

James was the youngest child in a blended family of a boy raised in a family with six siblings. Colin and Karen both had three kids from previous marriages. On Colin’s side, Crystal, David, and Brian, on Karen’s, Mellissa, Heather, and Apryl. They had James after they married.  After losing their home during the economic downturn, the family relocated to the Vegreville countryside. James embraced country living, and according to his parents, loved the cowboy life. His chores included feeding and caring for the horses which he treasured, and he did so without complaint. James rarely, if at all complained about doing chores, he cut the grass with being asked. 

Like most, the Candy family was not immune to tragedy. James’s older brother, David, died as a result of

Pictured left, James enjoying the rodeo life.

ohol abuse. The family had suffered a devastating loss, and according to both Colin and Karen, this took a toll on James as he and David were very close. Also, being a small kid, James was bullied in school, trying to cope with the angst of being a teenager and finding his way. 

On the evening before James disappeared, he and his friend, Austin, were set to go out for the night when Karen noticed something in James pocket. When she pushed him on it, she discovered a small amount of marijuana, so he was not allowed to go out, and Austin went home. They sat down and talked about the marijuana. Colin and Karen were concerned, having lost a son to substance abuse, and if he, James, wanted to pursue a career in the rodeo, he would be subject to drug testing. According to Colin, “We had a discussion, we sat down and talked about it. We don’t argue in our house; we talk.”  Colin explained his concerns to his son, and James said smoking weed helped him deal with some of the pressures related to school. Colin had noted that James marks had come up considerably. He was still dealing with bullying in school, and they also found out that he had developed an affection for a girl who did not reciprocate. These issues were weighing heavy on James, and he claimed to be self-medicating with the weed. Colin and Karen were firm that they didn’t want drugs in the house, even marijuana.  Karen believes that in telling their son that they were disappointed in him, “that might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.”  After the discussion, Colin and James talked about the next day’s chores and before bed that evening, Colin told his son that he “loved him” and James returned an “I love you” and then they retired to bed.

Those would be the last words that Colin Candy and James shared.

What Colin initially found that morning didn’t seem that out of the ordinary, except for an open window and an empty room. Given their discussions ending with the words “love you.” So, this rose no real alarm, leaving Colin thinking that James was probably outside in the early morning, tending to the animals and would be back. Colin checked the house and set out onto the property looking for his son, but found nothing. He checked the buildings and the land and was fruitless. Now, concern began to bloom, so he went back to his son’s room to search for more clues. 

When Colin returned to the room, he found a piece of paper on James’s desk with a pen sitting on top of it, when he started to read it, he panicked. It was a suicide note; he gave the letter to Karen and immediately went back out to look for his son. Colin went to the barn, and all the outbuildings horrified of what he might find. After doublechecking everything, he returned to James’s room and noted that the lariat rope was gone, and he had left his wallet, his learners license, and ATM card behind. It was at this point that both Colin and Karen placed a call to the RCMP who took the issue very seriously.

In the note, James talked of the pressures he faced, how he missed his brother, his broken heart, and how he was distressed about disappointing his parents. A massive search of the surrounding area was conducted by the RCMP and volunteers. Ground searches yielded no signs of James and before long days turned into weeks. 

James Nestor Candy was missing, but over time, the searches were scaled back and what little media attention that shone on the case faded. Missing person podcasts have tried to help, including THE VANISHED hosted by Amanda Colman, who outlines the situation thoroughly. But for the most part, the national media outlets like CBC have largely ignored the case.

Before writing this, I contacted Colin and asked him if he submitted his story to the CBC Podcast, SOMEBODY KNOWS SOMETHING, and he said that without clear evidence of a crime they won't touch it. Resources from the police, whom Colin commends as “doing a great job” also began to be reallocated to other cases. There were sightings, which is typical in missing person cases, and Colin was vigilant about checking and maintaining  James’s Facebook page. Hoping that keeping it out there will bring their son home.

December 19^th, 2017

A message appeared on James Facebook and messenger, from an individual identifying himself as, Mike Barley, in which he left a message,  “James if your still out there I hope you answer this or I’ll be waiting at your front door til your parents go missing too.” 

Colin was concerned. 

Was this a valid threat? Could this Mike Barley know of James whereabouts? Or was this just an internet troll looking for a cheap thrill at the cruel expense of a family desperate to find their son? Colin immediately called the police, who told him to try and initiate a conversation, but the individual never responded. 

There has been no social media activity and banking transactions to indicate that James is out there, but his disappearance the breeds speculation. If James had set out with his lariat rope intent on harming himself, surely evidence would have turned up to support that. But there has been no physical evidence. If James is simply a runaway, he could be anywhere in the country by now. This presents a further challenge, lacking the interest of larger news media outlets like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation because this story is but one in thousands of missing Canadian youths.

Tragically, neither Colin or Karen Candy know what has become of their son, but Colin keeps searching, when he’s on the road driving truck, he puts up Missing Posters of his son and when home, he’s out on horseback checking large caches of property. Looking for something that will lead to finding their son.

James Candy has vanished, while his parents and siblings agonize over not knowing. In speaking with Colin, I noted that he mentioned “no sign and no remains,” and one can only wonder how painful it is for a parent to say those words aloud. To acknowledge that their missing child might be deceased. 

Left to right Colin Candy Karen Candy and their son James.

They keep searching, without closure or explanation and ignored by a media more interested in stories that will bring sponsors. More sensational stories, but a family suffers that unintended indifference. Not knowing. They have only hope that their son will surface and cling to that because they have little else to go on. They have not given up on James, they want him back in the fold of their family while understanding that time is not a friend, but a forgetful foe. While they are sequestered to a foreseeable future of grief without closure, James will become another statistic among many missing teens.

I’ll close by confiding, that I know Colin Candy. We worked together for several years at a company here in Alberta. While Colin and I didn’t hang together, outside work, I still got to know him. The company we worked for, which will remain nameless, employed many ‘away people’ from places like Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and even British Columbia. Economic refugees who have set out from a depressed economy in their home province to the welcoming arms of this province. There was a real family atmosphere in that company, and we got to know a lot about each other. What I remember about Colin were the difficulties he and his wife faced during the economic downturn. I also knew he was an upstanding member of his community, working as a volunteer firefighter in Two Hills, Alberta. And I was there when news broke about the death of his son, David. We all felt it, one of our own had suffered a tragedy. And that is why I am penning this. Because, when James went missing, we all shared and often thought about the anguish that Colin and Karen are suffering. To the public, he might be just another missing kid, but perhaps we should all pause and think, we are not invulnerable to a similar tragedy.

It has now been over two years since James Nestor Candy disappeared. 

The search for the Candy’s, friends, and family will continue. 

If you see James or have information about his disappearance, please contact: 6820 Highway 16A W
Vegreville AB T9C 0A7 Telephone: 780-632-2155

You can also learn more about this story by visiting FIND JAMES CANDY at:

https://www.facebook.com/FindJamesCandy/?ref=br_rs