Gallagher family to host second awareness walk for missing daughter

Two years after Megan Gallagher first went missing in Saskatoon, her father and stepmother are exhausted.

Brian and Debbie Gallagher have been to all 35 court appearances for the four individuals who are facing charges in connection with their daughter’s disappearance.

The experience has been “numbing,” Brian said.

“To say that we’re tired is an understatement,” Brian shared. “Still no answers … we still don’t know where Megan is. We don’t know where her body is.”

Brian recalled feeling disbelief, hours spent on the phone and being unable to properly sleep or eat after Megan first went missing in September of 2020.

“It’s changed our lives in so many ways,” he said.

Brian recalled that it took him a year and a half after Megan disappeared to be able to truly laugh.

“It is our lives,” he said.

For the second year in a row, the Gallagher family will be hosting “Megan’s Walk,” to raise awareness around missing people, Indigenous people in particular, in honour of Megan.

Last year’s walk was held on the anniversary of the last day Megan was seen. This year, the walk will be held on Sunday starting at Joe Gallagher Park at 9:30 a.m.

Brian said his hope is that the walk continues to raise awareness about the very important issues Indigenous communities are facing, because when people walk, they talk.

The Gallaghers have been committed and dedicated to seeing the court process play out.

“Every time you go, you hope and you pray you might get some insight as to where Megan is, and if murder charges will be coming,” Debbie said.

The couple said their first priority is still locating Megan. Then, the pair said, they’re hoping that at some point murder charges will finally be laid.

The four individuals that police have connected to Megan’s disappearance — John Wayne Sanderson, Roderick William Sutherland, Jessica Sutherland and Ernest Whitehead — are all facing the charge of committing an indignity to human remains.

Brian said he knows people are out there who know what happened to Megan but haven’t come forward, a feeling he said is painful.

“It’s literally killing us, the not knowing,” he shared.

In some ways, Debbie said she finds it harder to cope with Megan’s disappearance now than before charges were laid. Back then, she said she felt there was still hope to find Megan. She said she is, however, grateful to see progress being made in the case.

One of the bright spots in the case that the couple has experienced is the number of connections they’ve been able to make with other families dealing with similar grief.

“If those numbers (of missing Indigenous women) come down, if these things start to improve, that’s the only bright spot — so that other families don’t have to suffer the same realities that we are,” Brian said.

Brian said he and Debbie have talked about whether they’ve seen any changes in how the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women is being treated since Megan’s disappearance, and they both feel they’ve seen positive change starting to happen.

Brian said he feels like he’s been hearing about fewer Indigenous women going missing. While that’s anecdotal, he said he hopes that is because the numbers are truly declining thanks to greater media coverage and public awareness.

The pair said they have also seen tremendous response from the Saskatoon Police Service, and they’re grateful for how receptive police have been to them.

“We have seen changes in how the Saskatoon police respond to missing persons calls,” Debbie shared. “There’s immediate action.”

Debbie said in recent cases of missing Indigenous women, she’s noticed immediate action being taken by police, and officers listening to concerns and suggestions they’ve made.

Brian said it’s a “significant improvement,” and said he and his wife both have an excellent relationship with police, specifically commending the investigators heading up Megan’s case.

“We do believe that this is affecting change,” Brian said.

The two are hoping to see the individuals charged in relation to Megan’s disappearance go to a trial, as they hope to get answers and experience closure of some kind through court proceedings.

Debbie said the lawyers and police involved are informed on the details behind the charges and the case, “but the only way we will ever know is if goes to trial and if they speak.”

“They kind of get to walk around free right now, three of them, and we’ve been living in hell for 728 days. That’s a life sentence for us, not knowing,” Debbie commented.

For Brian, however, there’s a stark reality always present behind the hope.

“The reality is none of this will ever bring Megan back,” he said.