McDermott, who has ties to Waterloo Region, was last seen by her family on September 29. She was planning to attend a yoga retreat in Merritt, BC, which is 270 kilometers northeast of Vancouver. RCMP said Sunday that the body of a woman who went missing on Oct. 1 had been found Oct. 8 by Merritt RCMP. Although police did not name McDermott, all RCMP missing person alerts for the 22-year-old have been deleted and family friend Kathy Kitsemetry made the link to a GoFundMe page set up to support McDermott’s family. He also thanked the public for their support in their search for the young woman. “We are devastated to report that her body has been found [on October 8th] after exhaustive searches by BC Search and Rescue teams,” Kitsemetry wrote. “Our hearts are forever broken. Please respect our privacy as we learn how to live in a world without her. Keep her in your hearts.” In a news release, RCMP said officers did not believe criminality was involved in the woman’s sudden death. A concurrent inquest has been launched into what led to the woman’s death. Her actual cause of death will be determined by the British Columbia Medical Examiner’s Office. Police said sometime between Sept. 29 and Oct. 1, McDermott’s vehicle was found wrecked on Highway 97C between Merritt and Logan Lake.
