A missing persons group is asking whoever left two messages with them in April about the disappearance of Ryan Shtuka to please reach back out.
The group Please Bring Me Home solicits anonymous tips about missing persons cold cases, and now it is looking to follow up on messages about Shtuka.
In a Facebook post on Sunday (April 30), Please Bring Me Home thanked all of those who called its anonymous tip line in the last five years, noting they take every tip seriously and follow up with each out.
However, they would especially like to follow up with one caller who contacted the group in April and left two messages on the same day.
“If this was you, please reach out so we can follow up with you,” reads the post, noting the anonymous person reached them through the link on their website, a message on Facebook or through the tip line at 1-226-702-2728.
Ryan Shtuka, who was 19 when he went missing, was last seen at a party at a home on Burfield Drive in Sun Peaks on Feb. 17, 2018.
READ MORE: RCMP seeking missing Sun Peaks man
At the time, Kamloops RCMP said Shtuka was believed to have left the party to walk back to his home in Sun Peaks, but he didn’t attend his job later that day and wasn’t active on social media or his cellphone since he was last seen.
Shtuka is described as Caucasian, 5’10”, 155 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing dark jeans, a grey/white shirt, a blue coat and a burgundy ball cap.
Mounties and Kamloops Search and Rescue, with 22 members, searched the area in the days after Shtuka was reported missing. It involved search dogs, snowmobiles, drones with infrared cameras, helicopters and 74 volunteers from the community.
READ MORE: Tip on missing man prompts search of new areas on B.C. mountain
A tip several weeks later reported that Shtuka may have actually left the party at 1:30 a.m. instead of after 2 a.m., which led the family to follow up on a previously dismissed sighting of him. He was believed to have been seen in the Fairways Drive area, possibly heading into the village to grab a bit to eat before businesses closed their doors at 2 a.m.
A year after he went missing, RCMP said they had no evidence to suggest Shtuka’s disappearance was connected to foul play.
Shtuka’s mom, Heather, believes her son likely succumbed to the elements and his body is somewhere in Sun Peaks. She understood after the first few days without any sign of Ryan the chances of finding him alive were slim.
READ MORE: One year since man went missing from B.C. ski resort
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