'Just no answers': Father of missing woman's son pleads for her return

One week after Cortney Lake, 24, went missing from the St. John's area, the father of her six-year-old son is pleading with the public for any information that will bring her home. 

Police say Lake's disappearance is suspicious and Jason Pike says it's an absolutely awful time for everyone in her family.

"It's just like everybody is sat around with their hands tied unable to really do anything and the frustration's just growing, and there's just no answers," Pike said, sitting in Bannerman Park where he and Lake would take their son to play. 

• Disappearance of Cortney Lake, 24, 'suspicious', RNC says

Pike, 34, said he met Lake at an event in their hometown of St. Lawrence and they were in a relationship for about four years until they grew apart. 

"It had a lot to do with personal demons of hers, and when a child got put into the mix of all that, things got a little more tumultuous I guess," he said.

"We went our separate ways for a very long time … but in the last year things had come to a happy medium for a little bit there, you know? And moving forward in a positive direction."

Pike, who has custody of their son, said he was with Lake on Wednesday, June 7 — the day she was last seen — taking the boy to his weekly swimming lesson at the Mews Centre, then dropping her off at her mom's house in Mount Pearl.

I don't believe for a minute that she went off on her own. Wherever or whatever has happened, was not of her accord. This is not her style.- Jason Pike

A week later, he said something is clearly very wrong. 

"I feel a little cheated. Because, you know, you want something for so long, and then you finally get there, and it's so close. And things are finally starting to feel settled, and then it's just like 'pouf. How'd that happen?'"

Pike wants answers, believing someone out there knows where Lake is or can help police find her. 

"I don't believe for a minute that she went off on her own. Wherever or whatever has happened, was not of her accord. This is not her style."

'He's used to talking to Mommy'

Their son does not know where his mother is. And Pike is grappling with how to deliver the unbearable news. 

"Aside from everything else, my son asks questions. He's six. And he's got a routine, you know. He's used to talking to Mommy at least every other day on FaceTime, or on the phone. Even before school in the mornings, she'd sometimes call," he said.

"Whatever differences that me and her had in our lifestyle over the last few years, that all washed away when you'd see how that child would light up for his mother." 

Comments are swirling on social media about Lake's past, potential drug use, and her current whereabouts but Pike said none of that matters. 

"She did the best with what she could with what she had. She had a rough upbringing herself, she spent a bit of time in care. And she bounced around a lot of different places, and unfortunately that kind of transferred into adulthood as well."

Pike said he has spoken with police and forensic investigators have gone through his vehicle.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said Wednesday afternoon there was no new information on the case, but they were conducting ground searches with the Rovers Search and Rescue team at certain locations of interest.