Months after an appeal to the public in Surrey, Barry Shpeley has renewed hope, but remains somewhat doubtful about recent sightings of his missing daughter.

The case of an Abbotsford mother who disappeared two years ago is getting new attention from police investigators after reports she’s recently been seen in Chilliwack.

However, the father of the woman, who has spearheaded his daughter’s search campaign, is skeptical about the sightings.

Cpl. Dale Carr, spokesman for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), said over the past month police have received several reports of Candace Shpeley being seen in various stores in downtown Chilliwack.

Sightings of Candace at the PriceSmart Foods and Walmart were not reported to police, but posted on a Facebook page. One described the young woman getting into a green truck.

Investigators are concerned the mother of three young children is being held against her will, said Carr in a press release Monday.

Candace’s father, Barry Shpeley, said Monday that while he’d like to believe the sightings are true, he’s not placing too much stock in them.

“It’s been two years and for my daughter to be seen in Chilliwack, where I live, seems a little strange to me,” said Shpeley. “If she was in Chilliwack, why wouldn’t she come home to me, or go to her best buddy’s place?”

If Candace wanted to disappear, visiting the town where she grew up makes no sense, he said.

“If you were trying to hide, would you hide in your own home town?”

If she’s being held against her will, why is she being sighted in such public places, he added.

Shpeley said it could be possible someone coerced his daughter into not speaking to family and friends.

“But I wouldn’t have thought that was possible, given how independent-minded my daughter was. Maybe somebody has something over her.”

Regardless, Shpeley is keen to get his daughter’s case back into the public eye.

“I’d like to get everybody in B.C. or across Canada to look for my daughter. I want to get a million set of eyes to look at my daughter’s website so we can find someone who says, ‘I know what happened’.”

Candace was reported missing to Abbotsford Police in April 2007. Investigators determined she was last seen March 30 in Surrey around 136 Street and 110 Avenue.

Her car was found abandoned June 11 in Vancouver near East 17 Avenue and Renfrew Street.

IHIT held a press conference Monday morning to draw attention to the case.

Shpeley noted the event fell on his grandson’s sixth birthday. Candace’s son lives with his dad while her girls, aged seven and eight, live with Shpeley.

His granddaughters are doing well, Shpeley said, but miss their mom.

“They miss their mommy and brother, but life goes on for them ... they are normal kids.

“They just know mommy is missing. We tell them ‘we don’t know where mommy is. We don’t know mommy’s circumstances...’ ”

Police are asking that anyone who sees Candace Shpeley call 911 immediately.

Anyone with information is asked to call the IHIT TIP Line at 1-877-551-IHIT or make an anonymous call to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

- by Rochelle Baker

rbaker@abbotsfordnews.com