u/mystery-crossing

this is so silly, but I’m a huge Unsolved Mysteries fan. In one of the first seasons, they aired a story that was based in Vancouver, BC that got my attention (because I’m from around there); the fate of Annie Ellen Fry. I’ve been researching this on and off for a few years, and I still feel so far away.

So in this Unsolved Mysteries segment, Jim Currie was trying to locate his mother, Annie Ellen Currie, nee Fry. His parents, Annie and Donald Currie, got married in the UK during WW2, and then moved back to his father‘s home in Canada, Vancouver BC. Heres what I know so far

They eventually divorced in 1949 in Vancouver after she had an affair with a neighbour, and Donald received custody of both their children. He ended up putting his youngest up for adoption, and eventually moved to California. Jim (James) Currie ended up being an investigator for an attorneys office in California, and eventually moved back to Vancouver. Once his father died, he started looking for his mother. As far as I know, he never found her and I believe he has passed away. He did however reconnect with his brother, Darryl

Annie married Charles Alexander MacDonald (1912) in August of 1950, and this is the last record of her I can find, and only became available this year in accordance with B.C. privacy laws. From the unsolved mysteries wiki, it says they got divorced. I tried to find a record of Charles’ death, to see if they had children, but I also can’t find anything. From family obituaries I’m fairly certain he passed before 1981, as he was not listed as living in his half sisters Vida’s obituary. He was listed as living in his father’s obituary in 1968 so it would be in this window. From all the evidence I’ve collected from records and newspapers, he lived in BC most his life, with some time spent in California living with his mother, her husband Wilbur Coover, and his half brother.

From Charles‘ father’s obituary (his name was also Charles Alexander McDonald, note the spelling change) he had a grandson named Charles W. MacDonald, who is most likely Annie’s husbands Charles’ child. However, I do not know if she’s the mother.

I also can’t find a ton of information about the fate of Annie’s parents, who I was trying to find an obituary for to see if she’s listed as alive when they passed away in the 60s. Their names were Arthur Herbert Fry and Frances Fry nee Grundy, though on her marriage certificate to Charles it says Frances Morgan. Annie went by three last names in her life, and could have been in Canada, the US, or the UK. All Ancestry and FamilySearch trees either end with the parents, or do not have a death date for either Annie or Charles.

Without knowing what her last name was at her time of death, it's starting to look like an exceedingly difficult task to find her. Her name is Annie Ellen Currie, born in or around 1925. Married Donald Currie in 1943 and moved to Canada in 1944. Divorced in 1949, remarried Charles MacDonald in 1950. From there her movements are unknown. I know so much about her, her husbands and their families. But I still don't know where she ended up. Sigh.

A few weeks ago, I made a post about how being prescribed a muscle relaxer called Baclofen made a big difference. I now have an exciting update that I wish to share. I'm not "cured" by any means, but I'm more hopeful than I've been since 2020.

So, a quick recap of my whole IBS journey. I have always had stomach issues, but it became a quality of life problem for me in 2020. I was told to go on low Fodmap, which helped a bit. Ended up at urgent care with blood on my stool, had a colonoscopy, was diagnosed with IBS basically. But, by 2021 I had gotten comfortable with my modified diet and continued on with my life. I wasn't great, but I wasn't having the terrible symptoms I was having with onion and garlic in my life. In October of this year I started having issues while exercising, which expanded to GERD symptoms, decrease in mental health, and a whole whack of other problems. Chest x-ray was negative for a hiatal hernia.

When I left off, my doctor had prescribed Baclofen to me for my stomach. I said to him "the problem is there's no advil for your stomach; I can't take a pill to make the pain and discomfort go away", which is when he prescribed the muscle relaxant to me. This worked great, but I was still experiencing a lot of GERD issues (though I didn't give up my decaf coffee or chocolate which doesn't help 😛)

In that thread, someone commented saying they had similar issues, and that it turned out to partially be because sleep apnea. The same day, literally at the same time, I had a rep from a sleep company in my area bring pamphlets and information on their sleep apnea services. So, my next doctors appointment to review all my results, I brought up sleep apnea, and my doctor agreed it was a possibility! So, I did an at home sleep test on Tuesday.

Next, my testosterone was slightly elevated, which indicated to him I may have a mild form of PMOS (formerly PCOS), which can contribute to the stomach symptoms. So, I've been prescribed Metformin to lower my testosterone, and will retest in a few months.

Last and most importantly, after doing a bit of research into the effects of tight chest muscles, I determined I should look more into either physio or massage to do what's called a myofascial release. My doctor agreed, and actually suggested massage to help with it over physio. But I ran into a friend who suggested a physiotherapist to me and long story short I ended up finding an Osteopath and the same clinic. This is the write up that cause my interest:

"Whether you're dealing with musculoskeletal pain like sciatica, TMJ dysfunction, or chronic back pain; headaches or migraines; managing digestive issues like IBS, bloating, acid reflux, or constipation; or navigating respiratory, hormonal, circulatory, lymphatic, or nervous system challenges — osteopathy offers a hands-on approach that supports your body’s natural ability to heal and self-regulate."

I had my first appointment yesterday. I cannot stress how life changing it was. He pointed out so many things I never even considered that could be contributing to my symptoms, and he could tell the issues in my body that I didn't mention in my intake just from looking at me sit. He explained how many of my body aches and pains can contribute to my stomach issues, including my slightly tilted pelvis and working in an office. Halfway through the appointment he asked "so, do you still have heart burn?" and I realized I did not. I had a cheat meal last night for my anniversary, today I'm not suffering from extraordinary pain. He even said that he uses only sees people for a few weeks before he starts "weening" them off, because part of the treatment is building better habits. I have a lot of exercises I have to do for breathing and making more space in my chest, but I walked out of there a new person.

Now, of course the immediate relief is for my GERD symptoms, but it leaves me hopeful some of my IBS will be solved as well (though I think garlic & onion will be forever off the table)

TLDR: apparently my posture is causing a lot of my stomach issues.

So my stomach issues have gotten worse since October of 2025. It started with getting nauseous when hiking, experiencing heart palpitations, and then the symptoms expanded to GERD and extreme discomfort in my stomach. I originally thought I had a hiatal hernia, but my X-Ray came back clear. I got some medication to lower the acid in my stomach, but I was still experiencing really intense gastrointestinal discomfort and pain. I said to him in my last appointment "The problem is you can't take an Advil for stomach pain". So, my doctor prescribed me Baclofen.

My people. I'm.. back?

Now, my doctors also suspect I have some musculoskeletal issues, specifically overly tight muscles in my ribs/ stomach, so it may be relaxing these muscles to make things less tight. But I took it for the first time Sunday morning and I could just... live? Went out with the dog and did a long walk, went home and had dinner and everything was great. I don't know if you can take this long term (and there are some side effects that would make me wary of that, specifically making you more uncoordinated, I'm already an accident waiting to happen). No longer having to run to the bathroom 5-6 times a day, no constant distraction by stomach pain. It literally has been an Advil for my stomach.

This isn't a cure, but to know there's a chance of RELIEF has been so hopeful to me. I'd resigned myself to living a life of misery and eating rice and chicken for the rest of my days, but now there's a bit of light. I'm definitely not out of the woods, but I'm also very fortunate my doctors have been taking this very seriously and I've had a plethora of tests done over the last month to get me healthy.

I could go on and on but here's a glimmer of hope for you guys