CANADA Canada - Keith Zajac, 55, driving from Squamish, BC, to Fort Frances, ON, car found in Whitehead, MB (rural area), 31 Jul 2022

[GuyfromCanada]

A Squamish B.C. man has gone missing in the western area of Manitoba.

Blue Hills RCMP said officers received a report of an abandoned vehicle on the shoulder of Highway 1, at Highway 459 West, in the rural municipality of Whitehead.

Officers determined the vehicle is registered to Keith Zajac, 55, who was reported missing from Squamish on Aug. 2.

The vehicle was a white Pontiac Vibe with B.C. licence plate KA810G.

More at B.C. man driving to Ontario now missing after his car found in rural Manitoba - BC | Globalnews.ca

 

[GuyfromCanada]

What could have happened?

 

[dotr]

Aug 10 2022

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/missing-man-keith-zajac-1.6547800

''The last time they spoke, Keith had told her he had been feeling ill with what could be heat stroke. His phone had not been working correctly, she said, and she expected to hear from him when he arrived in Fort Francis.

By Tuesday when Pam had still not heard from her husband she reached out to his uncle, Stanley Zajac, and his brother.''

"I did find out that he had spoken to his mom Sunday night after he had spoken to me, telling her to ask Uncle Stanley and his brother Jeff to stop phoning because he couldn't answer it and he couldn't get the voicemail. Because this phone was not working." Pam said.

"She had asked him, 'Where are you?' And he said, 'I don't know.' And I didn't find that out until Tuesday."


A witness reported seeing a person that fit Keith's description and clothing hitchhiking east on Highway 1, she said. Another witness who saw him later reported seeing him hitchhiking west on Highway 1 on Aug. 1.

They are hopeful for dash cam videos that could help track Keith's movements.''

 

[YaYa_521]

What could have happened?

That's what I'm wondering too. Hopefully drivers who have dash cam footage will contact LE so they can confirm whether Keith is the hitchhiker the two witnesses reported seeing walking along the highway. It would be nice to know whether the car was operable when it was found abandoned. I'm really puzzled by the combination of things that seemed to have gone wrong for Keith prior to his disappearance: suffering a potential heat stroke, the phone not working properly and an abandoned car. I'm worried Keith may have been having a mental health emergency assuming his disappearance isn't voluntary. I can't get beyond the fact that he didn't know where he was when he was speaking with his mom. It seems either he didn't want her to know (unlikely, imo) or he was suffering with a cognitive issue. I wonder if he bumped his head at some point during the three days he was traveling. I'm concerned he had a medical emergency while walking along the highway, if he was the guy seen hitchhiking. Maybe he fell into a ditch or sought a quiet place under an overpass (if there are any in the areas where the car and hitchhiker were seen) or a shady spot some distance from the roadway. It's also possible he was a victim of a hit and run but it seems there would be blood evidence somewhere along the roadway. How large of an area did SAR and firefighters cover in their searched for him? I wonder if the search area wasn't quite big enough to find Keith.

 

[nao]

Moo..i think his car was located near 'grand valley provincial park and campground'. Located on the Assiniboine River at Trans Canada hwy--Exit 459 It is 8km west of Brandon mb..which is a fair sized town.

 

[YaYa_521]

These two articles provide more details about Keith's disappearance.

Crowdfunding campaign launched to help with search for Squamish's Keith Zajac

Friends and family hope a private investigator can help find the 55-year-old resident who went missing in Manitoba.

www.squamishchief.com

SBBM

Y. said hotel staff reported Zajac appeared to be very confused when he checked into the Super 8 in Brandon.

The day after, on Aug. 1, there were three sightings of Zajac, she said.

In the early morning, he was seen on foot in the woods in Brandon near a river. A bystander checked on him, but he said he was fine.

Then he was seen again in Brandon on the Trans-Canada Highway, looking as if he was attempting to hitchhike a ride eastbound. He was seen again on the Trans-Canada slightly west of Brandon, seemingly trying to hitchhike westbound.

On Aug. 5, after officers and family had been pinging Zajac's phone, it was handed in to officers by people who had somehow come across it, Y. said. It's unclear how they got ahold of Zajac's phone.

#More at link

Aug 2022: Family still searching for missing man

A British Columbia man who went missing in Brandon was last seen hitchhiking westward on the Trans-Canada Highway, his brother told the Sun Thursday.

www.brandonsun.com

SBM
According to his brother, J. Zajac, the car was located near the Grand Valley Campground. That location is close to where the vehicle driven by Jordan Ross, a co-owner of the campground, was found abandoned after he went missing earlier this summer. [snip] In searching the area close to the location of the abandoned car, one of the approximately 80 searchers found a coat near the Assiniboine River that J. identified as belonging to his brother.

#More at link

 

[dotr]

Aug 16 2022

Search for B.C. man in Manitoba continues

The search for Keith Zajac, a 55-year-old resident of Squamish B.C., is entering its third week.

winnipeg.ctvnews.ca

''Searches continue to be conducted by RCMP Manitoba, as well as volunteer groups like the Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team.

“We had several people and agencies out searching,” says Cpl. Julie Courchaine. “We were in the air, we were on the river there with boats as well, and a land search. And still we’re not able to locate Keith.”

Outreach and offers of support from community members to Zajac has been overwhelming and has him planning to return to Brandon soon. “I was talking to my work about taking some extra time, my brother’s wife Pam, she’s also talking about coming down to meet some of the people that have been involved in this,” Jeff said. “So it’s just up in the air, we’re just trying to work out logistics and stuff now.”

Keith Zajac is described as five-foot-10 and 175 pounds with short blonde/grey hair and beard. Anyone with information is asked to contact Blue Hills RCMP or Manitoba Crime Stoppers.''

 

[YaYa_521]

Crowdfunding campaign launched to help with search for Squamish's Keith Zajac

Friends and family hope a private investigator can help find the 55-year-old resident who went missing in Manitoba.

www.squamishchief.com

Updates from the fundraising page at the site linked in the article:


Updated today:
SBBM
In the continuing search for Keith, Pam and the family is teaming up with HEART Team - which specialize in emergency underwater search and recovery. To cover all possible leads HEART Team will help look in the Assiniboine River because Keith’s jacket was found on shore close to the river in Brandon, Manitoba on August 2nd.

Updated 14 Aug 2022:
SBM
The Private investigators are in Manitoba working hard to find Kieth. It is believed that Keith is unwell and confused and we need to find him. There was a potential sighting of him in Winnipeg.

 

[dotr]

In related (good) news..

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-integrated-missing-persons-response-winnipeg-police-1.6784574

Mar 20, 2023
''Winnipeg police will oversee all missing persons reports in Manitoba as part of a new hub that aims to help more quickly find people who disappear and provide supports for agencies working with those who chronically go missing.

The provincial government announced $2.1 million on Monday to fund the Manitoba Integrated Missing Persons Response.

The hub will manage all reports of missing persons in Manitoba and aims to more efficiently prioritize police response to reports, particularly when involving people from rural and northern areas and cases involving higher risk groups such as women and young girls vulnerable to abuse, trafficking and people who go missing on a recurring basis.

"Each one of those missing person reports ... is an individual who is in jeopardy, it's an individual whose family is worried about them and it is an individual who is ultimately at risk," Manitoba Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said at a news conference at RCMP headquarters in Winnipeg.

In Winnipeg alone last year, he said 9,315 missing persons reports were lodged, which works out to about 25 per day. Nearly two-thirds of reports in Manitoba in 2021 were "runaway girls," Goertzen said.''

 

[nao]

I used to live on bandlands in northern Manitoba. The huge problem is .you have to hitchhike. There is no public transport. My mom is 86 she lives near lake wpg. It is ridiculous that there is no buses or any transport north of Winnipeg. I used to hitchhike to Winnipeg often

 

[CastlesBurning]

Bumping for Keith, now missing one year