Editor’s note: Edmonton police said Monday, July 25 William David Smith has been located and the matter “does not appear to be criminal in nature.”
A Coutts family, along with Edmonton police, are asking for the public’s help in locating 28-year-old William David Smith after his father received some unusual text messages from his son.
Smith was last seen in Edmonton on Sunday, July 17.
His father, Glenn, said he last spoke with his son Sunday afternoon as William was driving east of Edmonton.
Glenn said the phone conversation did not raise any concerns, but subsequent text messages did.
“It was a conversation about some family matters,” Glenn said. “But there were not any indicators of anything wrong at that point. It was the text messages that prompted us to… involve the police.”
Glenn did not elaborate on the details of the text messages.
Attempts to reach William on his cellphone have since been unsuccessful.
A ping of his phone showed it was last used in an area near Tofield, approximately 70 kilometres east of Edmonton. Coutts is located about 100 kilometres southeast of Lethbridge.
Glenn said William has never gone missing before or been out of contact with his family for any length of time.
William is described as 5’8″ weighing 240 pounds with shaved brown hair and blue eyes.
He was driving a dark blue, 1992 Ford F-150 truck with a large dent on the rear passenger panel and Alberta licence plate NAF 670.
A tip from the public took RCMP to a similar truck parked in a ditch near Sherwood Park early Wednesday morning, but it was not William’s truck.
Glenn is hoping a large social media response will help find his son.
“We are excited about the number of shares and posts it has received,” Glenn said. “It’s a marvelous thing that so many people have had a concern and are willing to pass on that search for us.”
Anyone with information on William Smith’s whereabouts is asked to call the Edmonton Police Service at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone. Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.tipsubmit.com/start.htm.