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The Castlegar Sun Wednesday, July 20, 1994

SUMMER SIDEWALK SALE

The Castlegar Downtown Business Association would
ike to say a big WELCOME to the Robson Bridge.
To celebrate we're all having a SIDEWALK SALE
oin the Heritage Society at the Train Station Museum
or a Farmer's Market:

Visit our merchants

for GREAT SAVINGS

SATURDAY, JULY 23, 1994

Every year across Canada, thousands of people go miss-
ing without a trace. While Castlegar is hundreds of miles
and many lifestyles away from bigger cities, such as Van-
couver or Calgary, it still has its own unsolved mysteries.
Profiled below are three case histories of missing people

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COUNTRY

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for Saturday Sidewalk Sale July 23rd

Prices in effect until Saturday, July 23rd

© 12 PACK SOFT DRINKS Assorted - ST . BSD + Deposit

© MOSTESS POTATO CHIPS 180 9. assorted - BD_g ca.

© CROSBY DRINK CRYSTALS 3 pack 2 for $1.49
ROCKY SNOW ICE POPS 720 ml. 99¢ ca.

© GOODY SUMMER FUN CANDY Assorted Bags 2 for $1.49

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which are still active at the Castlegar RCMP detachment.

eich poobmttpede-peucanining wiser coalescing aalalacacialmaaal
aged seniors aren't from b ing a national statistic

Many of those who are reported. missing are eventually found. Some people choose to
walk off into that dark void,
some have no are

abducted, while others have
gone missing. without a trace

“s been 20 years since
Castlegar resident Frank
Olajos went missing
without k

Brown said Derhousoff has had no contact with his friends, nor has his bank account,
which had several thousand dollars in it, been accessed since his disappearance.

“We have had no information as to his whereabouts since the day he was reported missing.
He’s had no contact with his

iends and his bank account has

never been touched before or
since his disappearance.”

obson _ resident
Kevin Raymond
Gebert ; 23, has the
distinction of being
stising pervon to the Coptagas
person
area. After a night of i
February16, he and a
were dropped off at his resi-
dence. Gebeit’s friend last saw
him when they bid each other
* good night. When the friend
awoke the next day, February 17
at 2 p.m. he found that Gebert’s
truck was gone.

That evening, a search initiat-
ed by concerned friends found
his truck parked at thie lookout
near Hugh Keenleyside Dam.
The keys were found on the
seat, but Gebert was nowhere to
be found.

Several searches by helicopter
and a police dog were fruitless.
Gebert’s bank account has also
been untouched since his disap-
pearance and Brown said he
hasn’t made contact with any of

race to shore for cover and safety. Olajos’s boat was found adrift
The keys were in the ignition, but turned to the off position, and
of the water.

Brown said extensive searches were carried out, however, Ola-
jos was never found. Unless a body is found, Brown said the file will remain open for 99 years
after which it will be entered into archives kept in Victoria.

we can conclude the case and assume that the missing person and any witnesses

files are reviewed every two years until 99 years have
detachment has an ace in the j

his friends.

At the time of his disappearance, Gebert, who has green eyes, is five foot seven inches tall
and weighs 140 pounds, was wearing blue jeans, a blue jean jack, blue checkered shirt and
white running shoes.

Brown refuses to assume that Gebert or the other two men profiled are dead simply
because of lack of evidence showing they might be alive.

“You never know. Sometimes these people just want to disappear and they do just that.
They walk away and sometimes they’re never seen again.”

registry at the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) in Ottawa. The U.S. and
Canada share information on missing persons through CPIC. But what does a police

nformation on the missing men have been entered into the national missing persons
officer tell a family after extensive searches turn up little, and hope of finding the per-

alive begins to dwindle?
“The way I deal with them is to be up front. I tell them the search has just begun and don’t

* give up hope. After a while, if nothing turns up, or things don't look that good, there’s no

sense in bullshitting them. I tell them ‘In all probability he isn’t alive, however, we won’t con-
firm his death unless a body is found’. A lot of missing people turn up in big cities.”

At first family members are in denial of the possibility that their
loved one might be dead, but Brown said eventually they come to
terms with the situation.

‘The final identification
Is by dental...’
— CASTLEGAR RCMP “It’s hard for them to get away and not be found, especially with

“Normally they know we've done everything we can and then
they’re no longer in denial.”

Brown said that with sophisticated technology it is becoming
harder for a person to intentionally disappear.

we have r

e comp
CORPORAL AL BROWN If you have any information regarding the three missing men

you are d to contact the RCMP. Any information will be
held in strictest confidentiality.
“Without the public it’s tough to find these guys,” Brown finished.

Graphic: Christine Moyer

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