It’s been nearly two months since 23-year-old Zackery Kellock was reported missing. But as the weeks drag on and questions remain unanswered, Joanne Butski, the missing man’s mother, hasn’t lost hope.
“Right off the bat, I knew something was wrong,” she said in an interview with Global News on Saturday, recalling how she learned of Kellock’s disappearance from one of his friends, two days after he was reportedly last seen on Jan. 14.
Upon hearing her son might be missing — a disappearance that police in Truro, N.S. handed to the RCMP on Jan. 30 — she walked to James Street in Truro, where Zackery had been staying with his girlfriend.
“She said that two individuals had picked Zack up at 4 o’clock that afternoon, and he told them he’d be right back. And he didn’t come back,” Butski said. “They messaged the two guys to see where Zack was, and they said they dropped him off at the end of James Street.”
But Kellock never returned. Butski then phoned the Truro police, and an investigation into her son’s disappearance began.
“Since that time, we have determined that Zack was last confirmed to be at an address in Millbrook First Nation and that his disappearance is suspicious in nature,” police said in a January news release, when the disappearance was first deemed to be suspicious.
“As such, we have shared this information with the RCMP, as they are the police of jurisdiction in Millbrook First Nation, where Zack had last been confirmed.”
For Butski, she’s holding on to thoughts of her son’s character.
“I know he loved his friends. If you had Zack as a friend, you had a good one. He never judged anyone. I learned a lot from him,” she said, holding a framed photo of her son.
“It’s just a really difficult time.”
She said that Kellock was registered to start a social work program at a nearby Nova Scotia Community College in September.
“Sometimes I don’t even think it’s real. If I needed anything, I’d just call him up and he’d be right over to help me,” she continued. “It’s just something I’ll never get over. My life changed.”
‘This family needs him brought home’
Butski said police recently told her the case has become a homicide investigation.
“My last update was that it was updated to a homicide, and I’ve had no contact since,” Butski said, adding that she believes police are getting close to determining who might be responsible for her son’s disappearance.
“I know that they’re working hard… I know that they only have one shot of getting it right so that Zack gets his justice for this.”
In an interview last week, RCMP Const. Dominic Laflamme said the active investigation is still being treated as a “suspicious disappearance” by the division’s major crime unit.
“That’s what I was told, yes, but maybe she does have more accurate information… They are in regular contact with Mr. Kellock’s mother,” he said, adding that he encourages the public to come forward if they have tips that could assist with the investigation.
“We’ve received several tips since taking over the investigation. And the last tip received was in the last two weeks, actually. So, we’re still receiving tips and investigating all the information we receive thoroughly.”
When asked if he thought Kellock might still be alive, Laflamme said he wouldn’t be able to comment. “It’s a very tricky and difficult question to answer, to be honest,” he said.
Police said investigators are continuing to gather evidence and further their search efforts.
Echoing Laflamme’s comment, Butski said she’s calling on members of the public to come forward with any potentially relevant information.
“Any little thing you think, just to bring him home. I don’t even know the colour of the car he was in. I was told it was white. Let the RCMP, Crimestoppers, anybody (know) so we can get some answers,” she said.
“If you know something, do the right thing. Zack didn’t deserve this. This family needs him brought home.”