The father of a woman who vanished in New Brunswick three years ago says there could be new developments in the unsolved case.

Jami Springer was last seen on McLaughlin Drive in Moncton in August 2016. Her then boyfriend Justin Smith told CTV News Atlantic at the time that he’d last heard from her when she messaged him to say she would be home shortly. She never arrived.

She would be 31 years old this year.

Springer’s father Brent couldn’t elaborate further to CTV News Atlantic on what the new evidence could be, as it’s part of the investigation, but he’s hopeful that it could lead to closure, especially for Jami’s 8-year-old daughter.

“One time, her daughter said: ‘People keep telling me that my mom is in my heart,’” Brent recounted, “’And if she’s in my heart, that means she’s not with us anymore.’”

The RCMP says Springer’s disappearance is considered suspicious. Despite a reward for information offered through Crime Stoppers -- an initial $10,000 that was increased to $12,000 in 2017 -- no tips have led anywhere yet.

Brent has been swinging between hope and grief ever since his daughter disappeared. He said it feels like his family is trapped in a game of snake and ladders.

“When our hope is strong, we’re climbing the ladder,” he said. “Then far too often when we hear hearsay and stories from the streets, we seem to slide down that chute or snake and that’s when the despair is magnified.”

Brent says now that the family has “come to the conclusion that she isn’t returning.”

“We’ve come to the conclusion that she probably has met her demise,” he said.

Brent keeps his daughter close through a new tattoo: a purple heart emoji with a play and pause button on it. The pause symbolizes his daughter’s life “on pause,” he said, while the play button is her, playing on “in the far beyond.”

He is still urging anyone else who may have information to come forward and speak to police.