A Victoria woman is grieving after the body of her only daughter, with whom she was rebuilding a strained relationship, was recovered from the Skeena River on Wednesday.
Grace Williams identified her daughter Nicole McKay, 23, as one of three boaters who were searched for this week.
McKay and the two men were on an overnight trip near Frizzell Hot Spring, about 33 kilometres east of Prince Rupert, according to RCMP. They were reported overdue on Monday.
Their deaths are not suspicious, RCMP said. The B.C. Coroners Service has taken over the investigation.
Williams last saw her daughter more than a year ago. McKay made the trip to Victoria to introduce her daughter Sierra, now 2, to her grandmother.
“She was so happy to be a mom, and I was so proud of her,” Williams said. “I need to say goodbye to my daughter.”
Williams, who depends on disability support and was recently homeless for several months, isn’t sure how she will afford the trip to her daughter’s funeral in Terrace.
McKay grew up there with her father, but would visit her mother about once a year.
“One of the reasons I have to see my daughter is because I was mad at her,” Williams said. “I wanted her to help me get off the street. And I didn’t get a chance to apologize to her.”
McKay’s cousin, Tanya Jones, said the mother and daughter had developed a stronger relationship in the past three years.
She described McKay as “very outgoing … always out to help others, very energetic and loving.”
On Oct. 25, McKay announced on Facebook that she had a new job as an accounting clerk for Skeena Sawmills, refocusing on career goals she had “lost sight of.”
Margaret Webster, whose ex-partner is McKay’s brother, said the family doesn’t have enough money to get everyone to the funeral.
“Financially, I’m going crazy because I’m trying to get myself out of debt, but it’s just one thing after another,” said Webster, a single mother of two.
Family members have requested funding through their band offices, including the Kitselas in Terrace and Ahousaht in Clayoquot Sound. Jones said Hawk Air has offered a discounted flight rate.
“I want her mom to go,” Webster said. “They haven’t seen each other for quite some time and I know, as a mother, I’d want to be there.”
