When her brother went missing, Kiersten Farnsworth started a Facebook group that's continued to be a source of information and resources for family and friends of people missing in Juneau. 'It's kind of my way of bereavement and grief,” she says.
A woman livestreams a vigil for Juneau man Doug Farnsworth on Oct. 27, 2021, in Juneau, Alaska. Farnsworth’s sister Kiersten started a Facebook group for Juneau’s missing people when her brother went missing last fall.
“I feel like if we start focusing on other areas like that,” Farnsworth said. “People will stop paying as much attention when it’s somebody from Juneau.” “Because I mean, everyone matters,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what city they’re in, they still definitely matter.”, too. Farnsworth made Merchant a moderator of the group. They’ve known each other since they were kids.
Merchant said she got a lot of leads from people saying they saw her cousin get beat up in a parking lot, or they’d tell her where they thought she should go look, but none of them were helpful.