Missing NV man has RCMP stymied

NORTH Vancouver RCMP are reaching out to the public for tips as they continue to search for a man who has been missing for more than four months.

Timothy Cameron was last seen at a bus stop on Marine Drive at Pemberton Avenue around 11 a.m. Aug. 19. He hasn't reappeared or made contact with loved ones since. Investigators don't know where Cameron was heading, or even if he intended to use transit, and the case has left them stumped.

Having exhausted other avenues, the detachment is again putting the word out to the public in the hope of gleaning some scrap of information.

"Really, what we're looking at now is one of two scenarios," said Cpl. Sue Tupper, officer in charge of North Vancouver's missing persons unit. "Either something has happened and he's no longer alive - we have no reason to believe there's been foul play - (or) he's just moved on with his life."

The case is complicated by Cameron's lifestyle, said Tupper. He has no bank account, meaning he can't be tracked easily through electronic transactions, and he often takes jobs in commercial fishing, leaving town to work for cash. Those factors, together with Cameron's inclination to keep to himself, leave little by way of a trail for investigators to follow.

The unit is not convinced Cameron has simply relocated, however. He has been out of touch with loved ones for much longer than normal, they note, and he left behind clothing and other possessions when he left.

"He has a right to be out there and off the grid," said Tupper. "But we have people who are concerned about him - his friends and family."

Until recently, Cameron had been sharing a home with his common-law wife in Lynn Valley, but the couple had agreed to separate temporarily before his disappearance.

The case is one of a very few North Vancouver missing-persons files that remain unsolved from 2012, according to Tupper. As of early December, only three of the 430 cases that had come in last year were still open.

"The vast majority of missing-persons investigations last for hours to just a few days," she said.

Anyone with information on Timothy Cameron or on other missing persons is asked to contact the North Vancouver RCMP's Unsolved Homicide/ Missing Persons Unit at 604969-7568.

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