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Walking with ghosts

When Gladys Radek walks the Highway of Tears, she says she can feel the spirits of women who are missing or have been murdered walking beside her.

Dozens have vanished or been killed along the notorious stretch of Highway 16 in central B.C. On Thursday, Radek will honour the 12th anniversary of the disappearance of her niece, Tamara Lynn Chipman, by walking the route once again.

"You can feel the pain of the families when they're walking with you," she said. "It's really, really hard to describe."

The annual journey, made by Radek and others who have lost loved ones, will span five days this year and cover 350 kilometres between Prince Rupert and Smithers. 

Commissioners of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls are set to join the walk on Monday before community hearings are held from Sept. 26 to 28 in Smithers. 

About 25 people, including family members and survivors of violence, are expected to testify publicly or privately at the Dze L K'Ant Friendship Centre next week. 

Radek will testify about Chipman, who disappeared while hitchhiking in Prince Rupert on Sept. 21, 2005. The 22-year-old was a beautiful, charming free spirit who had a young son, she recalled.

Critics of the inquiry don't understand how much ground it has to cover, said Radek, who sits on its national family advisory circle.

"It's not as simple as two years of work. These people, these commissioners and the staff that they have working right now, they are uncovering the stones that should have been turned a long time ago," she said.



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