CANADA Canada - Marshal Iwaasa, 26, Lethbridge, Alberta, burned truck found in B.C., 17 Nov 2019

[rmoeller]

Marshal is still missing from my hometown. Please keep sleuthing!

 

[dotr]

The family of 27-year-old Marshall Iwaasa says they aren't giving up on trying to find him after he went missing last month. (Supplied)
Dec 13 2019
Efforts to find missing southern Alberta man 'not slowing down'
"The family said the distance from Lethbridge to Pemberton, a 13-hour drive, means his truck would have had to be refueled at some point. They have appealed to gas stations and convenience stores along any of the possible routes to check their surveillance video for Iwaasa, or his truck — a dark blue 2009 GMC Sierra, with Alberta licence plate BLL 1099.

Fogen said the family is concerned because it is getting close to a month since he went missing and some of the tapes may be overwritten and no longer available.

"It really is crunch time for us in trying to see if we can get those tapes held or saved."

She said any one of those tapes could provide a clue to where her brother was and they are urging service station or food store owners not to record over their surveillance tapes until they have time to check them out for the period between Nov. 17, when he went missing, and Nov. 25, when his vehicle was found.

In the meantime, a large group of family members have been pitching in to monitor and update their Facebook page.

Fogen said there is so much ground to cover and the community support is vital to finding out where he is, or what happened to him."

"We are so thankful that people have supported our family so much, and I really just can't say thank you enough. I hope that every person out there that has helped us really knows how thankful we are."

She said the family has no intention of slowing down their efforts. After more than three weeks, Fogen said they are instead focusing on spreading the word and trying to make the campaign even bigger."

 

[Jamtartz]

To my understanding Marshal didn't have any social media, his cell was deactivated. I find both hard to believe if he was in IT at SAIT, maybe one of those 3 was activated, maybe he has a fake profile on all social media's?? Family say they are close knit yet they don't know if he had a job, a girlfriend and it seems they are surprised he wasn't currently enrolled in school. I bet it's very hard on them.

Why Pemberton? At first I thought ride share gone bad or hijack, so many scenerios, now I'm not sure what to think. Le should press release this case.

 

[kritafo]

To my understanding Marshal didn't have any social media, his cell was deactivated. I find both hard to believe if he was in IT at SAIT, maybe one of those 3 was activated, maybe he has a fake profile on all social media's?? Family say they are close knit yet they don't know if he had a job, a girlfriend and it seems they are surprised he wasn't currently enrolled in school. I bet it's very hard on them.

Why Pemberton? At first I thought ride share gone bad or hijack, so many scenerios, now I'm not sure what to think. Le should press release this case.

I also find it hard to believe he wasn't on any social media. Deactivated cell, I'm almost to the conclusion he was living in his truck or from place to place. Family says their close but they have no idea he's not actively enrolled at SAIT and we did the other belongings belong to? woman clothes or mens clothes?

 

[rae100]

To my understanding Marshal didn't have any social media, his cell was deactivated. I find both hard to believe if he was in IT at SAIT, maybe one of those 3 was activated, maybe he has a fake profile on all social media's?? Family say they are close knit yet they don't know if he had a job, a girlfriend and it seems they are surprised he wasn't currently enrolled in school. I bet it's very hard on them.

Why Pemberton? At first I thought ride share gone bad or hijack, so many scenerios, now I'm not sure what to think. Le should press release this case.

I also find this all very hard to believe. I think it must be very difficult for the family to be realizing that they truly did not know him and his life.

 

[rae100]

I also find it hard to believe he wasn't on any social media. Deactivated cell, I'm almost to the conclusion he was living in his truck or from place to place. Family says their close but they have no idea he's not actively enrolled at SAIT and we did the other belongings belong to? woman clothes or mens clothes?

He definitely had an apartment/place in Calgary. I agree - family says they are close, but apparently not. I hope the family is able to go investigate his apartment, I'm sure there will be a multitude of clues there that will point them as to what likely happened.

 

[rae100]

I had just read this on their Facebook group as well.

I work as a clinical counsellor and this got me thinking more about his mindset. If he was not forthright with his family about discontinuing his studies (either voluntarily or not) my guess is that’s a big piece of the puzzle. The sister stated in the comment section of the FAQ that all SAIT can tell them is he either didn’t enroll or he withdrew sometime in the Fall 2019 semester.

Why would a person not tell their family, who they are noted to be very close with, that they were no longer in school?

I hate even thinking this, but this all leads me more and more to think he took his own life. That things got overwhelming and he went for a final visit to his mom, and then just drove off heading no where in particular except deep into the woods and ended up near Pemberton.

I really hope I’m wrong for the family’s sake, they all seem so lovely.

I strongly agree with this. The only thing I don't know about is the state of the scene. It didn't seem disorganized like someone with mental illness. I think that there's a possibility he may have left it all behind, and staged the scene... it reminds me a lot of the movie Into The Wild, where he drove his car to another state and abandoned it, and burned all of his ID and cash.

I feel for his family, I really do. But I think the whole not enrolled in school thing needs to be explored more. It is not an insignificant fact at all.

 

[kritafo]

I don't understand why family isn't talking, where was Marshal living ? The lack of anything from police and family is making me crazy

 

[ttcRider]

This just makes me think how well do we really know family and friends. I can't be the only nosy person alive. Someone must have known something.

 

[rae100]

This just makes me think how well do we really know family and friends. I can't be the only nosy person alive. Someone must have known something.

The fact that they are outright refusing to answer any questions related to his lifestyle, mental health status, his place of residence, how he made money if he wasn't in school, if he had a gf... etc etc... is not good.

Also the fact that NO friends have come forward at all, is odd. Who are his friends? Surely he had friends or a girlfriend or boyfriend. Who is Marshal Iwaasa? Thats what we want to know.

There is a post in the group saying that if they release any of these things, then people will stop looking. Which, TO ME, means they think there is a very good chance he is alive and that this was not a murder/suicide. The Facebook group is solely focusing on postering efforts and the neverending discussions on gas station camera footage, it's not useful for actually investigating.

 

[rae100]

I don't understand why family isn't talking, where was Marshal living ? The lack of anything from police and family is making me crazy

It is driving me crazy too. The Facebook Group is useless for actually investigating/sleuthing, IMO. I'm sick of talking about gas station video footage. I want to know "Who Is Marshal Iwaasa?" - which the family won't answer, or doesn't really know.

 

[Tealgrove]

My friend's son committed suicide 15 years ago. He had his phone by his side with the battery removed. LE told us that this was extremely common in suicides especially when the person is committed to the act and doesn't want anyone to try and change his mind.

I'm leaning towards the self harm side of things at this point. I certainly hope not, but I don't think things are looking good.

MOO

 

[Satchie]

It is driving me crazy too. The Facebook Group is useless for actually investigating/sleuthing, IMO. I'm sick of talking about gas station video footage. I want to know "Who Is Marshal Iwaasa?" - which the family won't answer, or doesn't really know.

However, telling the world all his personal, private details is not respectful to him, or to his right to privacy. It would not assist in finding him, and if he is alive, probably guarantee he would never come back.

It's hard to ask people to to review their own gas station footage across the whole province, for a period of a week. That would take each person days to review.

I think the police approach would be to look for traffic cams or private cams that show the highway outside Pemberton, both north and south of the side road where the truck ended up, and looking backwards from the latest time the truck could have burned. Then you might pinpoint what direction the truck came from, and when. And then you look for cams at any major intersection where it might have turned on to that road, starting with the latest time the truck might have passed there, and going back in time.

The most likely route, unfortunately, is via Vancouver. You aren't going to be able to easily spot one truck travelling past or into the hundreds of gas stations around Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

So then, I'd go to the Lethbridge end, and try to track where he headed immediately after he left there: did he head east/north, or west? Then you know, how long would it take to drive past the next major intersection, and look at one highway pointing camera at the intersection, or in each possible direction the truck may have turned.

Be strategic in what footage is searched, to try to narrow down as closely as possible, precise direction of travel and time frame, so you know which are the next camera(s) to seach.

 

[kritafo]

It is driving me crazy too. The Facebook Group is useless for actually investigating/sleuthing, IMO. I'm sick of talking about gas station video footage. I want to know "Who Is Marshal Iwaasa?" - which the family won't answer, or doesn't really know.

I want to know as well, the fact that nobody is talking is extremely troubling to me. They say he had no mental health issues etc, but what do they know. He certainly wasn't honest with them Not that it matters. They say he was a gym rat.. which gym? who are these friends? co -workers? other students? No updates from Lethbridge police now that they've taken over either.

 

[rae100]

However, telling the world all his personal, private details is not respectful to him, or to his right to privacy. It would not assist in finding him, and if he is alive, probably guarantee he would never come back.

It's hard to ask people to to review their own gas station footage across the whole province, for a period of a week. That would take each person days to review.

I think the police approach would be to look for traffic cams or private cams that show the highway outside Pemberton, both north and south of the side road where the truck ended up, and looking backwards from the latest time the truck could have burned. Then you might pinpoint what direction the truck came from, and when. And then you look for cams at any major intersection where it might have turned on to that road, starting with the latest time the truck might have passed there, and going back in time.

The most likely route, unfortunately, is via Vancouver. You aren't going to be able to easily spot one truck travelling past or into the hundreds of gas stations around Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

So then, I'd go to the Lethbridge end, and try to track where he headed immediately after he left there: did he head east/north, or west? Then you know, how long would it take to drive past the next major intersection, and look at one highway pointing camera at the intersection, or in each possible direction the truck may have turned.

Be strategic in what footage is searched, to try to narrow down as closely as possible, precise direction of travel and time frame, so you know which are the next camera(s) to seach.

I do agree, that we aren't entitled to his personal info. I also agree with your gas station plan, but unless the cops did that, there's no use in people talking about it in the group.

The FB group has taken a bit of a turn today with people demanding info. I think the public is pretty frustrated, so I can't imagine how the family is feeling

 

[rae100]

I want to know as well, the fact that nobody is talking is extremely troubling to me. They say he had no mental health issues etc, but what do they know. He certainly wasn't honest with them Not that it matters. They say he was a gym rat.. which gym? who are these friends? co -workers? other students? No updates from Lethbridge police now that they've taken over either.

It is odd that Leth Public Police haven't issued ANY statement at all...

 

[Jamtartz]

Yes quite surprising no press release yet. I see in the family FB group there is a online funding started today to hire a private investor, future family/friend searches and for drone purchases.

 

[kritafo]

Yes quite surprising no press release yet. I see in the family FB group there is a online funding started today to hire a private investor, future family/friend searches and for drone purchases.

they can't even answer the questions asked of them, wonder what a PI will discover

 

[Innana]

they can't even answer the questions asked of them, wonder what a PI will discover

Well I would assume/hope they would tell the PI more than some Facebook group.

I would like an update from the police however.

I’m thinking about this, as much as I want all the information from the family too, I get why they are being tight lipped. I don’t know if I would share all that info if it were my loved one. People are seemingly never satisfied online. Anything they say will lead to more questions/criticisms/judgments. They seem to want to keep the focus on finding him, and not discussing why he left.

and I totally get it, as I too think the why he might have left questions would help support the where he could be now answer. But I think that’s stuff that they would likely share privately with police/PI.

 

[Satchie]

Well I would assume/hope they would tell the PI more than some Facebook group.

I would like an update from the police however.

I’m thinking about this, as much as I want all the information from the family too, I get why they are being tight lipped. I don’t know if I would share all that info if it were my loved one. People are seemingly never satisfied online. Anything they say will lead to more questions/criticisms/judgments. They seem to want to keep the focus on finding him, and not discussing why he left.

and I totally get it, as I too think the why he might have left questions would help support the where he could be now answer. But I think that’s stuff that they would likely share privately with police/PI.

Yes, the family've probably been hoping someone had a major interaction with him, a conversation, or he stayed somewhere overnight and a person will come forward after seeing the photo, to help pinpoint a time and place.