The mother of a Calgary man who has been missing since November 2019 is speaking out about her son’s disappearance.
On Monday, Lethbridge police released an update on the case of Marshal Iwaasa, who has been missing since Nov. 17. One day later, his mom, Tammy Johnson, weighed in on the information the police released to the public.
Police continue to investigate what officers say is Iwaasa’s “suspicious” disappearance. They will work with B.C. RCMP and a private investigator to plan an exhaustive search of the area where Iwaasa’s “torched” vehicle was found.
The vehicle was located on Nov. 25 in a remote area in the backcountry near Pemberton.
Family and friends plan on conducting their own search once police have combed through the area. A time frame for the searches is not yet known and despite the Lethbridge Police Service saying there is no compelling information that points to anything “criminal,” the family believes otherwise.
Johnson said she is very appreciative of all the work the police, media and the public have done to spread the word about her son’s disappearance and help find him.
On Monday, police also said Iwaasa had “hidden” the fact that he stopped attending his post-secondary classes prior to his disappearance.
The LPS added that through their investigation, they found that he had become stressed and withdrawn.
Iwaasa’s mom said she was surprised to hear that, and that she doesn’t agree he was trying to hide anything or be dishonest, but rather that he wasn’t ready to tell the family he wasn’t attending school.
“Marshal is quiet, Marshal is reserved, he is shy. That’s not withdrawing, he is shy,” Johnson said.
“Marshal just wasn’t ready to tell us he wasn’t going to school, that would be a hard thing to do, to tell your family,” she added.