CANADA Canada- Eli Wood, 25, student@ Sir Wilfred Laurier Univ., missing after fire (poss. arson)@ home, Kitchener, Ont.,19 Oct., 2025, *Foul play suspected*

[Claroon]

Understandably it's not safe for community searches but how is it that in Quebec where the winter conditions are far more extreme, their search and rescue team spent 10 days in February 2025 searching through frigid conditions, snow, ice and dangerous terrain with drones, people in wet suits etc, going through forests, trails, body of water near Mount Tremblant for another missing person?

It's horrifying that 81 days have gone by with no answers and no safe return of EW.

I feel for EW and his family every day. No real progress, his family putting up a reward, it shows a failure in the legal system IMHO.

Crimestoppers has an office in Kitchener and they are not actively postering, fundraising for ads, or doing outreach.
Waterloo Airport is right there - more than enough pilots in the area (there's even a flight school there) who could have flown over the neighbourhood and along the trails of the grand river to film for evidence before the first snow fall.

Something doesn't add up.

This case raises many concerns that the city of Kitchener-Waterloo does not care that a student from Nova Scotia who believed and trusted it would be a good place to finish their Masters of Social Work degree was targeted for such a violent crime - his apartment burned, his dog killed in the fire and he has "vanished".

No one's come forward from the organizations EW did his placements, No profs, No colleagues. Even the local 2SLGBTQ1A+ organization waited until Dec 4 to say anything.

It makes the work of a small group of people who care in that community all that more important.

For perspective, a few years ago an intoxicated student from the UK went missing and the community effort was exceptional to locate him within 24 hours.

For EW... not so much

I hear your frustration. Not having more details is incredibly hard, and I think many people feel the same way. Regarding the Quebec situations, Search and Rescue teams there are usually responding to wilderness cases of hikers, skiers, or people lost in areas where they have a general starting point. Eli’s situation is much different, IMO. It is urban, and that kind of investigation relies on very different tools, especially digital and forensic work. The range of possibilities in a city is much wider as to where he might have been taken, which changes how it is approached.

Crime Stoppers is mostly volunteer‑run, and their main role is to provide an anonymous tip line and pass information to police. I don't believe they typically organize searches or public campaigns unless they’re partnering with a community group. I think a lot of us wish more could be done publicly, but each organization has a specific mandate and it's own restraints. I did notice they’re looking for volunteers, which shows how much they rely on community involvement.

As for interviews and outreach, I would assume law enforcement is speaking with the people and organizations connected to Eli, but we aren’t privy to those conversations. That part of the process is always behind the scenes to protect evidence, even when we wish we could see more of it.

As for the river area: the river is only one of many possibilities, and there is no public indication that police believe the river is the primary location. I think it was the 'medium' lady who posed that as a search area.

 

[LadyL]

nothing yet?
there has to be someone on ring cameras in the neighbourhood?

 

[Mayjusticeprevail]

I hear your frustration. Not having more details is incredibly hard, and I think many people feel the same way. Regarding the Quebec situations, Search and Rescue teams there are usually responding to wilderness cases of hikers, skiers, or people lost in areas where they have a general starting point. Eli’s situation is much different, IMO. It is urban, and that kind of investigation relies on very different tools, especially digital and forensic work. The range of possibilities in a city is much wider as to where he might have been taken, which changes how it is approached.

Crime Stoppers is mostly volunteer‑run, and their main role is to provide an anonymous tip line and pass information to police. I don't believe they typically organize searches or public campaigns unless they’re partnering with a community group. I think a lot of us wish more could be done publicly, but each organization has a specific mandate and it's own restraints. I did notice they’re looking for volunteers, which shows how much they rely on community involvement.

As for interviews and outreach, I would assume law enforcement is speaking with the people and organizations connected to Eli, but we aren’t privy to those conversations. That part of the process is always behind the scenes to protect evidence, even when we wish we could see more of it.

As for the river area: the river is only one of many possibilities, and there is no public indication that police believe the river is the primary location. I think it was the 'medium' lady who posed that as a search area.

In the case from Mount Tremblant, the person who went missing was last seen speaking with seasonal workers outside his hotel and then walking to the side of the hotel. The search and rescue team was engaged to go search the because there were suspicions of foul play because no use of phone or bank cards. When that person's wallet was found in a parking lot nearby a month later, the search and rescue team did another search. Perhaps taken more seriously because a tourist went missing in their ski resort village under suspicious circumstances.

As a MSW student of Laurier, who had student placements at various organizations that help at-risk youth, LE really should have executed a ground search immediately IMHO. In the very least, they could have said they are searching for a person who may have been injured in the fire. The blanket statement "We are concerned for EW's wellbeing" delayed everything, a lot of people came to the conclusion that he set the fire and ran away.

Something is way off that city officials and the university didn't step up immediately for a student from Nova Scotia in their final year at Laurier. They have done so for other students.

On Nov 20, the local MP brought up EW at Kitchener's Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to grieve those who have lost their lives due to transphobia and transphobic violence.

Many prominent community members who work in radio and community outreach services are only hearing about EW's case 80+ days after he went missing. There are folks on the facebook group working hard to do postering, canvasing, letter writing.

The Waterloo Crimestoppers website doesn't even show that EW is missing.

All in all still very much frustrated and hoping more is done to help EW and his family this year.

 

[Claroon]

nothing yet?
there has to be someone on ring cameras in the neighbourhood?

If there has been, LE has not released any information.

 

[Claroon]

Much of the grass is showing around the KW area today. I truly hope someone sees something. Perhaps those who wanted to do the River search could search the parks or bushy areas near Major St. ??