The public is asked to keep an eye out for a missing Courtenay man.
Michelle Root posted on Facebook Saturday morning that her husband, Michael Gazetas, 51, had been missing for 24 hours at that point, without any contact. On Sunday morning, she asked the media to spread the word.
“We have reported him missing to the RCMP, and there is an active search underway,” she said in her post.
Gazetas is described as six feet tall and about 250 pounds. He was last seen leaving the family home in his red 2011 Ford Ranger pickup truck, with the licence plate HX 4109. He was wearing a green wool hat and a patterned red-and-blue wool poncho over a black shirt and vest.
“We have no real idea of where he went, though if I were to guess, it would be north and/or into the bush,” Root said.
Root says his mobile phone was either off or the battery died. Gazetas, or ‘Gaz,’ often goes into natural areas and may have headed to the back roads around Courteney, Comox Lake or Strathcona Park. Due to the lack of specifics on where he could be, the goal is to find his truck so a search and rescue area can be designated.
Root is asking if anyone sees or hears from him to contact the RCMP immediately. The phone number for the Comox Valley detachment is 250-338-1321. The case file number is 2020-1779.
mike.chouinard@comoxvalleyrecord.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
