The parents of a 19-year-old Winnipeg man who was killed in a highway accident say they were stunned to discover that a memorial to their son was mysteriously removed.
Ethan Boyer died in October 2019 on the South Perimeter Highway when his car was struck from behind by a semi, forcing it into another large truck.
Boyer’s mother Sue Zuk-Boyer and father Dana Boyer said they visited the makeshift memorial, which was based around two of Ethan’s hockey sticks in the shape of a cross, with a new sign Sunday, when it was nowhere to be found.
“We put the memorial up after Ethan had passed at that intersection and we used his hockey sticks that were in the car at the time, as he was planning on going to hockey that evening,” Zuk-Boyer told 680 CJOB’s The Start.
“We used that as a marker for that site, and over the years we’ve added some things — we had a mat there, I had a stone with Ethan’s name on it put there. … It helps us in our healing process, in our grieving.”
The memorial, she said, had been in the same spot unmolested for almost four years, and had been visited and cared for regularly by Ethan’s family and friends, making its sudden removal all the more surprising. The Boyers said they’re still not sure whether it was taken down by municipal officials or if it was done maliciously by someone else.
“When we pulled up, I just thought I couldn’t see it because of the tall grass,” Dana Boyer said. “I was first very stunned. It’s far enough off the roadway that it shouldn’t be anywhere near where they cut the grass on the side of the road. We kind of did that on purpose.
“I wasn’t really thinking straight because I was really confused, but then Sue said Ethan’s sticks are gone and that was a gut punch.”
The hockey sticks, he said, were attached to a metal bar that had been driven about three feet into the ground, and it looks like everything was meticulously removed.
Zuk-Boyer said if the memorial was removed for any official reasons, the family should have at least received a heads-up.
“There are so many ways to get in touch with us and let us know. We would have removed it and been sad, but we still would have gone there as a family,” Zuk-Boyer said.
“It’s just devastating. I’m hoping it was done for a reason and not maliciously.
“All we want back are his hockey sticks. All the other stuff is replaceable, but the sticks aren’t.”
A spokesperson for the City of Winnipeg said the memorial does not appear to have been removed by any city crews. Global News has reached out to the province for more information.