Reid Bricker's family offers $2K reward to find missing Winnipeg man
The family of Reid Bricker, who has been missing since Oct. 24, is offering a reward for information that helps them find the 33-year-old Winnipeg man.
Bricker was discharged from Health Sciences Centre at 3:20 a.m. on Oct. 24 after he was admitted following a suicide attempt. He hasn't been seen since.
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"We're quite certain that he's not still alive, and we just — the family, our friends, the community — we all need closure on this, and the way to do that is to be able to find his body," said Bricker's mom, Bonnie.
"Thirty days later he hasn't got winter clothes on, he has no money, no identification, no phone. And he did leave us a suicide note and a last will and testament … so we're not hopeful at this point."
The family has little information about where Bricker might have gone, other than a tip from one woman who saw him hitchhiking on the Trans-Canada Highway on Oct. 25.
"We're hoping that whoever gave him a ride will contact us, let us know where they picked him up, where they dropped him off, and what time it was, because the police don't even have a launching off point," Bonnie said, adding Bricker also was seen downtown on Oct. 24.
We're in a dark corner and we're hoping if somebody could come forward, we're happy to reward them.- Bonnie Bricker
"We've looked at video cameras in the area and nothing has come forth on that. We've asked Downtown Winnipeg BIZ to look at their video surveillance, but that was two weeks ago, and I haven't heard anything from them either," she said.
"We're in a dark corner, and we're hoping if somebody could come forward, we're happy to reward them. Somebody out there needs a couple of thousand dollars to help them through the Christmas month, I'm sure, and we're quite happy to do that."
Bonnie said her son suffers from mental health issues, including depression, and had been in two different hospitals for two suicide attempts. The stay at HSC was his third hospital visit.
Bricker was taken to HSC by police, who were concerned for his safety, and admitted involuntarily on Oct. 23. When the family called the hospital to check in with him the next morning, they were told Bricker was not registered as a patient.
They later learned learned he had been released in the middle of the night.
If nothing comes out of the reward offer, the family intends to arrange for a memorial service to bring some type of closure.
Bonnie Bricker called having a loved one vanish a "surreal experience."
"You're absolutely hanging in limbo … and you don't know where to put your next foot; you don't know how to take that next breath; you don't know how to live that next day. It's just, it's a void," she said.
"When our loved ones pass away from whatever causes and we have a funeral, we have closure. You can begin the seven steps of grieving. For people who have loved ones who are missing … you bounce back and forth and you have no clear path at all to healing."
