Hope begins to fade as search for missing senior Earl Moberg, 81, enters 2nd week

The family of a missing Winnipeg man with dementia isn't slowing down their efforts to find him, but their hopes of finding him alive are fading.

"Mentally, we're looking for closure now at this point. Eighty-one years old, dementia — I know this isn't a normal cold winter but you know, one and one make two," said Doug Moberg, whose brother Earl hasn't been seen since Dec. 12 in the city's River East area.

"We're past Christmas now, so it's seriously a long time."

Winnipeg police issued a silver alert for Earl the night he went missing and family asked the public in northeast Winnipeg to check their properties, sheds and cars in case he sought shelter.

Earl, 81, is an avid walker known for walking several kilometres at a time, but he also has advanced-stage dementia, Moberg said.

Earl has gotten lost before, but "not to this degree," Moberg said on Tuesday. "We always found him the same day."

Earl carried an iPhone but its battery died by the following morning. He also had a tracker that his wife could trace, but he forgot to put it on, Moberg said.

About 12 to 15 searchers, including family, friends and members of Winnipeg's Bear Clan Patrol, searched along the shore and shrubs of the Red River near the North Perimeter Highway overpass on Tuesday.

They gathered at the Main Street boat launch with a handful of searchers from the Bear Clan Patrol. It's a little further north than where the family believes he had been walking — along the Bunn's Creek path near Gateway Road and Chief Peguis Trail — but they've already searched everywhere around there.

"We're looking for any sign of him, anywhere. Unfortunately again, no hide, no hair of him," Moberg said, noting Earl's family members are coping as best as possible, "but it's not easy."'

Tuesday marked the fourth time the Bear Clan has searched for Earl, while past search efforts have involved the police helicopter and a police dog, said Moberg.

"We don't even know where to go next. We've done almost everything possible," he said.

One of Earl's sons came in from Calgary for a while but had to go back, while a daughter from Victoria has been out since about Dec. 14 but has to return by the end of the month.

"You people out there, keep looking. He's got to be somewhere," Moberg said, pleading to the public. "I don't think he's in the river but that's a possibility now, too."

Earl is described as five feet seven inches tall, with a medium build, short white hair and a white beard. He was wearing a dark blue or green parka when he was last seen.

"I know the outcome may not be what everyone is wanting at this time, but we're still maintaining hope on that. I guess for the family, it's about the closure and bringing him home," said Kevin Walker, executive director of the Bear Clan Patrol.

"We just like to make sure that … they know somebody's there with them and going to be supporting them through this."

Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts can contact the Winnipeg Police Service's missing persons unit at 204-986-6250. 

Bear Clan helping family search for missing senior with dementia

12 months ago

Duration 1:16

Earl Moberg, an 81 year old with dementia, was last seen December 12 when he went out walking in Winnipeg's North Kildonan area. His family and the community have been searching for him ever since. His daughter would like the Silver Alert system that notifies the public about missing vulnerable adults to include a text to people's cellphones in the area.