Craig Hodge, Vancouver Sun / QUESTIONS: Friends of Vancouver's missing women gather around a bench in Portside Park that is being dedicated in their memory.

For a few minutes this weekend, the families and friends of Vancouver's missing women and the police officers who are searching for them gathered in the rain at Portside Park.

Officially, they were there to dedicate a bench in honor of the women. But it was also a chance for the families to once more call attention to the troubling cases, and for the police to reaffirm their commitment to solving them.

Less than a year ago, the disappearance of 31 women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside was making headlines internationally. The city and provincial government offered a $100,000 reward, and the U.S. television show America's Most Wanted aired a story about the women, many of whom were involved in drugs or the sex trade.

Of late, though, the cases have slipped from the spotlight.

A team of five detectives and two civilian members from the Vancouver city police continue to work the files. They have found two of the women alive, and confirmed that two others died -- one from a drug overdose, and another from heart problems.

But 27 of the women are still missing, and it was clear on Saturday that police are as frustrated as the families.

Detective Constable Lori Shenher, the lead investigator on the case, attended the dedication on the shores of Burrard Inlet. But like a number of the 25 people standing under umbrellas around the bench, she was too emotional to speak.

"It's such a strange ceremony because there is no closure," Shenher said later. "And I think that's what I find most frustrating, personally, is that there is no closure for these people."

Lynn Frey, who travelled from Campbell River for the ceremony, said she will never be at peace until she knows what happened to her daughter Marnie, who was last seen in 1997. But Frey takes comfort, she said, knowing that she has done everything possible to find her daughter.

"I've gone every step I could take. I've walked every beat," Frey said. "So that's why I came today. ... There's really nothing more I can do."

Sandra Gagnon, whose sister Janet Henry was last seen in 1997, took solace from the fact there is now a permanent reminder of the missing women. "It shows these women are not forgotten and will never be forgotten," she said.

And Pat deVries, who read out the names of the 31 women, said the memorial bench ensures the women are celebrated and recognized, and that there now is a place where families can go to remember them.

"You can't just sweep them under the rug," deVries, whose daughter Sarah disappeared in 1998, said in an interview. "These women's lives matter; they're not expendable."

Shenher said investigators continue to work the case and, despite the frustrations, remain optimistic. But, at this point, they have nothing new to offer the families.

"All I can tell them is where they aren't," she said. "As far as where they are, we haven't got there yet."