More than two months after a B.C. mother pleaded publicly for information about her son’s death, B.C. RCMP have released the name and a photo of a person of interest in the case.
Joel Zimbalatti, 21, was found shot to death in a Sparwood trailer on Oct. 11, 2023. According to Elk Valley Mounties, one man fled the scene before they arrived, but another was taken into custody and later released without charge.
Both were identified as persons of interest. The man who fled — alias “Slim” — was nowhere to be found after Zimbalatti’s death, but as a result of recent tips that have come in, Slim has been identified.
RCMP released a photo of Joshua Freeman on Thursday, stating that “all conventional avenues of trying to locate him have been exhausted.” Freeman was at the trailer when Zimbalatti was shot, but fled.
He was last seen in the Kimberley area of southeastern B.C., but is known to have ties to the Okanagan.
“Mr. Freeman is believed to be one of the last people to see Mr. Zimbalatti alive before he was shot, and it is imperative that investigators speak with Mr. Freeman regarding this investigation,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Smart in the release.
“If Mr. Freeman sees or hears this call for information, we ask him to contact the police of jurisdiction.”
In a November interview, Zimbalatti’s mother, Toni Zimbalatti, described her son as a funny, charismatic and quick-witted young man. He was the kind of person who would “give the shirt off his back,” and while he loved his family dearly, she said his one true love was a blind-deaf chihuahua named Eli.
“Wherever Joel went, the dog went. He treated that dog like a child, and the dog was there when it happened,” Toni said.
According to Toni, Slim — Freeman — had been staying with her son periodically, but she’s unsure how the pair knew each other. She never met or saw the man.
The day he died, she said her son was about to cook Thanksgiving dinner for his family, and that week, he was about to start a new job with friends.
“Just a happy guy, smiling all the time, loved to pull pranks, loved to make people laugh, loved to cook,” Toni told Global News. “Joel was an amazing human being. He didn’t get a chance. His candle was snuffed out far too soon.”
Toni said she doesn’t know if her son’s death stemmed from a botched robbery or an accident — “kids messing around with guns” — but her son “deserves justice” and the family “deserves the truth.”
Anyone with information on Freeman is asked to call the B.C. RCMP Southeast Major Crime Unit at 1-877-987-8477.
— with files from Kristen Robinson
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