EDMONTON- A British Columbia woman is making an emotional plea, desperate for the safe return of her missing husband.
Valentine ‘Val’ Degenhardt, 45, was reported missing on Friday. He was last seen in Barrhead on Wednesday evening and has not been seen or heard from since.
His wife, Robyn Schmitke-Degenhardt, says her husband was in Morinville this week for work.
The couple lives in Salmon Arm, BC, but own a house in Morinville because Val is in the area often for work.
Robyn says when she spoke to Val on Wednesday, he said he was going into Barrhead to visit an old acquaintance.
“He told me that he would give me a call in 30 minutes, and never called me back,” Robyn said from Edmonton Saturday afternoon.
“The next morning I phoned his sisters and said something was wrong and one of them went to his house, found the door open, his Jeep Grand Cherokee is gone, he’s gone, items in the house were gone and our two little dogs- who he loves as much as our son- were there running around the yard.”
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“Strange items, like three house fans, a crockpot, his big money jar, a vacuum sealer unit,” she said, “cell phone items- the batteries, the chargers- were gone.”
Robyn was in Salmon Arm at the time, but has since made her way to Alberta.
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Since arriving, Robyn says she’s met with the acquaintance Val was going to meet.
“He said that he did see Val and everything was fine, the dogs were with him. But my question is then, if he was fine, why did he not call me back?”
She says this behaviour is out of character for her husband and the entire family is concerned for his safety.
“My husband is so meticulous when it comes to locking doors, making phone calls. When he tells me he’s going to call, he calls. He’s never left me hanging,” she explained. “He phones me every night before we go to bed and we talk. There’s never been a night when he’s away that I’ve never talked to him. There’s never been a morning that I’ve never talked to him and I haven’t talked to him since Wednesday.
“Everyone in our family loves him deeply and we’re all doing everything we can to find him. And I won’t stop until I do find him. I just love him with all my heart and I want him home.”
Val is described as Caucasian, with green eyes and brown/grey hair. He also has a grey goatee. He is about 5’10” tall and weighs about 194 pounds.
The vehicle Val was last seen driving was a 2000 dark grey Jeep Grand Cherokee with Alberta licence plate BJS 0889.
Anyone with information on Val’s whereabouts is asked to contact Morinville RCMP at 780-939-4520 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Barrhead is located about 120 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
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