EDMONTON – Friends and family of 24-year-old Alex Thomas-Haug congregated at Gold Bar Park early Friday evening to begin another river-valley search for the missing Ritchie man not heard from since Monday morning.
Carrying posters, leaflets, flashlights and the collective hope of wanting to once again see their lost son, brother and friend, the group brushed through ravines and walked down streets all week looking for any signs of Alex.
Police are treating his disappearance as suspicious and have told his family to accept and run with any outreach from the community, of which there has been plenty.
“It’s a testament to how amazing the community has been and how amazing Alex is and how many people really miss him,” said Cayley Kathleen Thomas-Haug, Alex’s sister, as she trekked up a hill in Gold Bar searching for him.
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On Thursday, with a home base at Ritchie Hall, in Alex’s neighbourhood, a group of a few hundred people distributed nearly 9,000 leaflets.
The community hasn’t abandoned hope that they will find him, nor have Alex’s friends, many of whom regularly frequent Ritchie Hall to hear local bands.
With every passing day, Cayley knows people could stop showing up.
“Life goes on for a lot of people,” Cayley said. “People have jobs and work. The worrisome thing is that news stories will come along, but for me and my family this is our life.”
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Cayley last saw her brother on Sunday for Mother’s Day. The family went go-karting and had dinner together.
Alex eventually left to go to hear bands play at New City Legion off Whyte Avenue.
Early Monday morning, when he found himself locked out of his home, his family thinks he may have walked through Mill Creek Ravine to meet his friends and grab his keys.
The family thinks Alex may have sustained a head injury, Cayley said.
Their hope is anchored on a couple’s report of running into a disoriented man on Tuesday evening who matched Alex’s description. The tip came from the Gold Bar area, which is why they moved their search northwest on Friday. Their grandparents used to live in the area, and Cayley hopes a hurt Alex would safely go somewhere familiar.
“We’re trying to keep the momentum going,” Cayley said. “We’re all just working away to keep at it and keep hope.”
Alex is described as Caucasian, six feet tall, 145 pounds, with red hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing black pants and a black T-shirt with the name of one of his favourite bands, Poison Idea, written across in red.
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