NIAGARA — The family of Ashley Theresa Marie Simpson is desperate for answers after the 32-year-old Niagara native went missing in British Columbia on April 27.

Simpson, who grew up in St. Catharines, was working at the Buffalo Inn in Pink Mountain, B.C. She was staying with her boyfriend in Salmon Arm, who expressed concern for her safety after she had went missing a few days earlier. Her mother called RCMP and she was declared missing April 30.

“She was unhappy and wanted to come home,” Simpson’s aunt, Patty McGean said of the last conversation between Simpson and her mother, which took place April 27, prior to her going missing. “This is completely out of her character. She would be in touch with family, or posting music or a thought every day on Facebook. It’s not like her.”

Simpson had planned on returning home to her parents, who live in Niagara-on-the-Lake. She was planning to work a summer job back in Ontario and had told her sister she would be attending a baby shower on May 15.

“Obviously we’re concerned with what’s happened,” said McGean.

The family is concerned with the circumstances. They are unsure whether she was trying to hitchhike back to Ontario and got lost, is unable to communicate with family, or whether there may be foul play involved. They’re desperately seeking answers from anyone who may have seen or heard from her.

Simpson’s father and sister have made their way to B.C., to help participate in the search alongside the community and a cousin, Bobbielynn McGean, who lives out there and works with Ashley. They have also been posting fliers up throughout the trip, to try to ensure that they are visible in the event she is hitchhiking her way back home.

“We’re just asking anyone who has seen something or may have heard from her, to contact police,” said McGean.

Simpson is described by RCMP officials in B.C. as a Caucasian woman with brown eyes and brown hair, about 5’5” tall, weighing 119 pounds. She had a gypsy tattoo on her left arm, with a dragonfly and strawberries tattooed on her right arm.

RCMP media relations officer Jocelyn Noseworthy said in a media release “inquiries have been made at all locations where Ashley has been known to frequent and to date she has not been located.”