The last time Tammy Johnson saw her son Marshal Iwaasa was on Nov. 17 when he stopped by her home in Lethbridge, Alta., to help fix her computer.
“We talked and everything was normal,” Johnson said Friday. “Nothing was out of sorts.”
Now, Johnson is handing out posters and making calls, hoping she will see her son again.
“It’s just every parent’s nightmare,” Johnson said.
The 26-year-old’s truck was found burned out with his belongings scattered north of Pemberton, B.C., on Nov. 30.
Johnson was in Hawaii with her daughter when she got the call.
“The RCMP in Pemberton had found Marshall’s vehicle torched,” she said. “Everything stopped. Everything shattered.”
She said Iwaasa was headed to Calgary when they last spoke, and she has no idea how he ended up in B.C.
On Thursday, B.C. RCMP officially suspended the search.
Johnson said she is still holding out hope.
“It doesn’t mean the search is over or that the investigation is over. It is far from being over. We will not give up.”
The family is reaching out to businesses and gas stations along the route to Pemberton, asking for security footage to identify Iwaasa’s truck.
“He had to have stopped for gas,” Johnson said. “His truck had to have stopped for gas, I’ll put it that way. Someone has to have seen him.”
Johnson said the outpouring of support from friends and total strangers has been deeply moving.
“There’s been so many volunteers that want to help. We all love him and just want him home. That’s the only thing,” she said.
“We just want to know he’s safe.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact RCMP or Crime Stoppers.