The search for a missing man at Sun Peaks is getting bigger.
Friends and family of 20-year-old Ryan Shtuka were back out searching on Thursday, this time with five highly-trained search dogs.
It’s now been three weeks since anyone has seen Shtuka after the young Alberta man left a house party at the resort. It is believed he was heading home at the time of his disappearance
Shtuka’s mom says while hope may be fading, they won’t stop trying.
“We’re trying to explore all avenues we can to bring Ryan home,” his mother Heather told Global News.
“Today is day 21. I don’t know how much hope you have as a parent, you always hope. I just don’t know. We’re realists too, I think.”
She said she believes her son left the party, but says they don’t know what state of mind he was in when he left, or how intoxicated he may have been.
Shtuka, who lives in Beaumont, Alta., worked the winter season at Sun Peaks, his mother previously told Global News.
Watch below: (From February 2018) Hundreds took part in a candlelight gathering outside a high school in the community of Beaumont, Alta. after 20-year-old Ryan Shtuka went missing in B.C.
“He was sarcastic, he was funny, he was smart,” she says. “I know I keep saying ‘was.’ That’s a hard mindset to think about, too.”
Ryan Shtuka is described as Caucasian, 6 feet, 180 pounds, with blonde hair and brown eyes.
The Shtuka family is offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.
If anyone has any information regarding his whereabouts, contact the Kamloops RCMP Detachment at 250-828-3000.