Penny Hart sets the dining room table, getting it ready for Christmas dinner. But one seat remains empty.
Her son, Sean Hart, hasn’t been seen in 49 days.
“It doesn’t feel like Christmas, no,” said Penny.
Sean walked out of the Seven Oaks Tertiary Mental Health Facility on November 6, and after a fruitless initial search in Mount Doug, Saanich Police says there haven’t been any leads.
“Sean has now become Vancouver Island’s son, not just mine. Everyone look, keep your eyes open. He’s off his medication, and he won’t be in a good place,” said his mother on Christmas Eve.
Penny says he has a Schizoaffective disorder and believes he might be in the woods, possibly in a manic state. She’s asking all mountain bikers and hikers to keep an eye out for the 34-year-old.
Penny’s brother-in-law Keith Karlsson said the most important thing they can do is to get his picture out to the public so that someone will recognize him.
They’ve started a Facebook page to help spread the word about Sean and his disappearance and have put out thousands of posters and even paid for eight billboards in Greater Victoria, featuring Sean’s face.
“Right now it’s like trying to find a needle in a field full of haystacks because we really don’t know where to look. There have been no credible leads to what part of Vancouver Island or even if he’s still on the Island,” said Keith.
Sean’s disappearance also weighs on his cousin Michael Pritchard.
“We grew up together, side by side. It weighs on you. I’ve spent multiple nights not sleeping because I don’t know where here he is,” said Michael, who’s worried that Sean is in a paranoid mindset.
In the past, Saanich Police say Sean’s had a habit of taking off his shoes, and have asked the public to keep an eye out for black hiking boots.
READ MORE: Saanich Police share photo of hiking boots, ask for help finding missing man
But this tragic time has helped mend the cracks in a broken family.
“I’ve been estranged from my family, my sister, for decades and through this with Sean, it’s brought much healing to the whole family,” said Penny.
When Sean first went missing, Penny’s sister Lee-Anne Karlsson reached out for the first time in years.
“On the phone, she said, ‘Leanne, I need support, I need support.’ And that was the beginning of our healing,” said Lee-Anne.
Penny lives in Alberta but came to Victoria to find her son and she’s stayed with her sister ever since, something she hasn’t done in ages.
Every day, they plaster victoria with posters, trying to complete their family, together.
“It’s fabulous. I have my sister back, my best friend,” said Lee-Anne.
A small silver lining in this time of darkness.
“I’m not giving up, I’m not leaving until I find my son,” said Penny.
The entire family is praying for a Christmas miracle, one that would bring Sean home in time for the holidays.
Rebecca Lawrence
