WINNIPEG — As family and friends continue to search for a missing 33-year-old man, Winnipeg police are asking Manitobans to keep their eyes peeled.
Reid Bricker has been missing since Oct. 23 when he was last seen in downtown Winnipeg.
Family and friends were out scouring the city for any signs of him early Saturday morning. A search party met at the Forks around 9 a.m. to hand out posters and search the area.
“We don’t have any hints,” said Reid’s mom, Bonnie Bricker. “We are looking for any hints. We are trying to help the police.”
Winnipeg police followed up on a tip and possible sighting of Bricker on Saturday.
Officers received a report that Bricker was possibly spotted in Wildwood Park overnight.
A resident told police a man knocked on their door asking for a jacket before walking away. The person fit Bricker’s description.
However, after officers investigated the possible sighting further, it was determined the person was not Bricker.
Bricker’s family has said he suffers from severe depression, borderline-personality disorder and social anxiety. He has also attempted to take his own life on more than one occasion. Bricker’s mom told Global News he had attempted to take his life three times in ten days.
“He has a tragic mental illness that has destroyed his life,” she said. “As a mom its really awful. As a human being it’s such a tragic situation that could have had a different outcome had one person or maybe two people made a different decision. It’s very frustrating.”
Bricker was released from the Health Sciences Centre at 3:20 a.m. on the morning he went missing and his family is upset that he was allowed to leave given his recent medical history.
“Reid was discharged from HSC at 3:20 Saturday morning. He had already been taken to St. Boniface (hospital) earlier in the day on an overdose and released,” said Bonnie Bricker. “So he was in two different hospitals in a 12 hour period. So at 3:20 in the morning when the streets are deserted and it’s cold and it’s dark outside and this guy is obviously distraught and not well…why release him at 3:20?”
His family has said Bricker only had keys and a cell phone on him. All attempts of trying to reach him have failed and his family is pleading for him to come home.
“Everybody loves him,” said Bonnie Bricker. “If he would just come home…we are going to try again. Please (do) not lose hope and please come back to us. We love you very much.”
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