Comox Valley RCMP are still on the hunt for 51-year old Michael Gazetas, who has been missing since the beginning of 2020.
Gazetas was last seen at approximately 8:30 a.m. on January 31, leaving his residence in Courtenay. At that time, he was wearing a red and blue poncho over a black shirt and vest with dark coloured jeans and a green toque, according to reports.
Police said that Gazetas was believed to be travelling in his red Ford Ranger, BC Licence plate: HX4109. The truck has also not been located since Gazetas was reported missing.
Friends have said Gazetas is a film location scout who knows the island well and likes remote areas of the backcountry, but clues to where he may have been headed are still limited at this time.
“He loved life. He loved his family. He loved his friends and he loved me very much and I loved him very much and I know if there was any way for him to return to me on his own he would have come home,” Michelle Root, Gazetas’s wife, said.
Back in February, his friends organized searches and raised money for a helicopter in efforts to find Gazetas, however, they were unsuccessful.
Brett Calkin, a member of Lions Bay SAR, said that it had snowed right after Gazetas went out and that can make some backroads impassable.
A red Ford Ranger truck Michael Gazetas is believed to be travelling in. (Comox Valley RCMP)
Now that the seasons have changed, Comox Valley RCMP is issuing another appeal to the public.
“The weather is improving and people are starting to venture outside for some local recreation. Michael liked the outdoors and may have taken a drive down one of the forest service roads on Vancouver Island” said Cst. Shana Macquarrie, Comox Valley RCMP Missing Persons Coordinator.
“Although it is possible, we do not believe that Michael left Vancouver Island.”
RCMP are asking if you see Gazetas or his truck to call the Comox Valley RCMP at (250) 338-1321. If you wish to remain anonymous, contact Comox Valley Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at comoxvalleycrimestoppers.bc.ca.
It is very important for us. His family and his friends to bring him home. To give us some answers if we can get them. Keep an eye out for any sign, any clue of that red [truck] or that silver toolbox in the back anything that looks like a vehicle may have gone off the road,” Root said.
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