Family, friends and community members spent Saturday searching an area of Spryfield, N.S., for 16-year-old Devon Sinclair Marsman, three months after his disappearance.
“Three months of torture,” his mother, Theresa Gray, said during the search party.
Marsman was last heard from the week of February 21. He is described as an African Nova Scotian youth, about five feet tall and 100 pounds, with blue-green eyes and short dark hair.
Halifax Regional Police have said there is no information to suggest he was met with foul play, but his loved ones are concerned for his safety.
Gray believes her son went missing in Spryfield. On Saturday, dozens of searchers combed through the Roach’s Pond area in the hopes of finding some answers.
“I’m grateful that they came out to help me search for him because he needs to be searched for, but it’s overwhelming,” said Gray, adding that she hasn’t heard of any leads from Halifax Regional Police.
“I have lots of questions and no answers.”
Gray said she has distributed thousands of flyers across Nova Scotia to raise awareness for her son’s disappearance, even going as far as Moncton and Fredericton. “I just don’t know where to put another flyer,” she said tearfully.
She said his social media and bank accounts have been untouched since he disappeared.
Gray described her son as a good kid who didn’t get into trouble.
“Devon was never in trouble. Devon was a really good, quiet kid,” she said. “Respectful, kind, loving. Never gave me any trouble whatsoever.”
‘We need help’
Family friends Terene Murphy and Shelley O’Toole helped organize the search Saturday, both to help bring some comfort to Gray and to raise awareness of Marsman’s disappearance.
Murphy said she has not seen much about the teen’s disappearance in the news and wants people to know that he is missed.
“It’s a child. We all have kids. It could be anybody’s nephew, their son, their friend, anyone. So we thought doing something’s better than doing nothing,” she said.
“He’s a 16-year-old child, and his family wants him back desperately.”
Added O’Toole: “Three months is a long time to be without your son, or not knowing where he is. We need help.”
Meanwhile, Gray wants her son to know that if he’s out there, she just wants him home.
“You’re not in trouble in any way whatsoever, and if there’s any way you can reach out to me, I don’t care where you are, I would definitely come find you.”
Anyone with information on Marsman’s whereabouts are asked to call police at 902-490-5020. Anonymous tips can be sent to Crime Stoppers online or by calling toll-free 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).