Two and a half months after he vanished while apparently on a day trip to the North Shore, the disappearance of a 21-year-old Vancouver man remains unsolved.
Brian Safari Mbaruk has been missing since Nov. 18, when he left his Vancouver home equipped for a hike and never returned. His disappearance touched off an intensive two-day search of the North Shore backwoods that turned up no trace of the missing hiker.
Now, 11 weeks after Mbaruk was last seen, the Vancouver polices Missing Persons Unit have issued a plea to the public for tips.
In a release to media Friday, the VPD said the hiker was one of just five missing persons cases from 2011 that had not yet been solved, out of a total of 3,961 investigated by the force last year.
Mbaruk, an avid hiker, took a large backpack, boots and other outdoor gear with him when he left his home just after breakfast on the day of his disappearance, leading friends and investigators to suspect he had headed to one of his favoured hiking trails near Lynn Creek or Deep Cove. He hasn't made contact with family or accessed his bank account since - behaviour that is out of character, according to investigators.
The search involved more than 20 members of North Shore Rescue as well as RCMP, parks staff, helicopters and teams from other agencies.
After 14 hours with no sign of the missing man, they called off the effort.
Mbaruk is black, 21 years old, six feet three inches tall and 170 pounds with short curly black hair and a brown beard. Police say he may have been wearing a grey Obey baseball cap, a dark blue jacket, brown work boots and a large backpack.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Vancouver police Missing Persons Unit at 604-717-2530.
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