Editor’s Note: The family of Brad Terpstra said Wednesday morning that he has been found safe and is getting professional support.
The family of a 27-year-old Edmonton man not seen since he left work on Friday say they are doing everything they can think of to try and find him.
“We’ve gathered as many people as we can, everybody that’s willing to help,” Jenna Armstrong told Global News on Tuesday as she spoke about her efforts to find her brother, Kenneth Bradley Terpstra.
“A lot of people have come in from out of town… we had a guy from search and rescue that was able to help us out and so on a map, he assigned a different area to each group and so they would either go out on foot or on bicycles or in vehicles and they would search that area.
“We don’t know what happened because he’s a creature of habit… he has the same routine every single day,” Armstrong said.
“He goes to work, he comes home, he has dinner with his family, he helps out his mom because she broke her leg.”
“He lives at home with us here,” said his mother, Tracie Lemishka. “He’s a pretty low-key guy, stays home pretty much. He doesn’t go out a lot.”
Lemishka said the biggest search effort so far was on Monday when about 100 people took part in the search. She said when she tries to call his phone, her calls go straight to his voicemail.
On Tuesday, the Edmonton Police Service released a photo of Terpstra, who usually goes by his middle name, Brad, and issued a plea to the public for information about his whereabouts, noting his family says his disappearance is out of character.
Terpstra was last seen leaving his work in the area of 39 Street and 53 Avenue at around 3:35 p.m. on June 29, 2018.
“He went to work at six o’clock, I talked to him at six o’clock on Friday morning and that’s the last time I talked to him,” Lemishka said. “I knew at six o’clock Friday night already that something was wrong… normally he would be home by five o’clock at the latest.”
“It’s just so weird that he didn’t come home.”
Armstrong said Terpstra’s mother contacted police immediately when her son didn’t come home.
Police said Terpstra may be driving his 2016 black Chevrolet Cruze with an Alberta licence plate: BRH-9804.
Terpstra is five-foot-seven and about 200 pounds. He has brown eyes and short brown hair.
Anyone with information about Terpstra’s whereabouts is encouraged to call the Edmonton Police Service at 780-423-4567 or the Edmonton Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit your tip online. The family has also set up a Facebook page where people can offer tips and continues to hand out flyers with photos of Terpstra and his car to people around the city.
“If you know anybody that can help us or you can help, we’d really appreciate it,” Armstrong said, adding the family hopes someone who has professional experience investigating disappearances can help.
“We just want you back Brad… we love you,” she said, adding her brother is the “kindest person you’d ever know.”
You can view a photo of Terpstra and a stock photo of his vehicle in the gallery below.