The search for a 40-year-old man who disappeared from the Comox Valley seems to have spread to the Vancouver area.
Karen Smith, mother of the late Justin Stanley Smith, says the RCMP has been in contact with her and they believe they have pictures of her son using ATMs in the Vancouver area on Thursday evening and Friday again. .
“It’s good news,” Smith told CTV News from his home in Nova Scotia. “They haven’t found him yet, but we know he’s still walking, he’s still alive, that’s the big one.”
The last time Justin heard about it was on May 27 and he was supposed to pick up his good friend Leegion Brooks, from whom he had taken a vehicle.
Brooks and others were worried when Justin failed to come to light and also lost his seat rental in Fanny Bay, BC.
Friends have been conducting extensive research in the back areas of Vancouver Island, knowing that he is an outdoor man.
“He’s a very outdoor person and I know he can survive in the jungle. He also has a lot of friends in the Vancouver area,” he says.
“His friends have invested thousands of dollars, I can’t even imagine,” Smith said. “Only one has taken eight days off work, he has spent more than $ 800 on fuel looking for it.”
Smith said she was very grateful to those who sought her son, including the assistance provided by the RCMP and the media.
She says she believes her son has been in a bad mood after the death of a very good friend recently and other problems from his past.
“This is really unusual for Justin to do. This is so uncharacteristic of him. Obviously there’s something we don’t know,” he said.
He says the missing person’s case has been taken to Vancouver Police.
“They have a video from last night, they were 99.9% sure it was Justin,” he said. “He has used his bank card about three times in the last 24 hours.”