Thunder Bay

Family of man missing in Thunder Bay over a month pleads for public's help as search continues

The family of a 65-year-old man who went missing in Thunder Bay, Ont., over a month ago is asking the public for help in the search.

Last confirmed sighting of Joseph Alexander Lawson was Nov. 27

A group of people holding posters with an image of a missing man stand behind a podium on a stage.
Family members of Joseph Alexander Lawson prepare to speak to the media on Thursday morning in Thunder Bay. Lawson has been missing for more than a month. (Kris Ketonen/CBC)

The family of a 65-year-old man who went missing in Thunder Bay, Ont., over a month ago is asking the public for help in the search.

The last confirmed sighting of Joseph Alexander Lawson, commonly known as Alex, was on Nov. 27 on Madeline Street in the Grandview area, where he was residing.

"Our plea to you Thunder Bay, and surrounding area, is to help us find our dad," Kim Lawson, Alex's daughter, said in a statement to media on Thursday morning. "Please check your yards, properties, buildings, commercial and residential construction sites and trail cameras.

"For people in the Madeline Street area, please, please check your home surveillance for any footage since November 27," she said. "And if you see our dad, stay with him and call 911.

"Please bring our dad home."

A photo of a man with long grey hair and a grey beard.
The last confirmed sighting of Joseph Alexander Lawson, 65, was on Nov. 27 in the Grandview area of Thunder Bay. (Thunder Bay Police Service/Provided)

Alex is described as:

  • An Indigenous male.
  • About five feet, six inches tall.
  • Having a medium build, long and straight grey hair and brown eyes, and often has facial hair.

He was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, a light-coloured North Face puffer jacket with a dark upper area, blue jeans and black shoes.

"It's too long for him to be missing," Wanda Skunk, Alex's sister, said Thursday morning. "My brother, he's always on foot, walking from anywhere. He gets all over the towns.

"He could go from Thunder Bay to Kenora, anywhere."

Thunder Bay police Det. Insp. Jeremy Pearson said police are considering the possibility Alex left Thunder Bay.

"Very early on in the investigation, we did send out messages to our policing partners advising that Alex Lawson was a missing person and that we were looking for him," Pearson said Thursday.

Pearson said the public has been helpful as the search continues, and have submitted tips to police. However, investigators have not yet been able to confirm any more recent sightings.

"There has been a significant amount of information received," he said. "The public has really adopted this cause. The public is aware.

"We're asking that that awareness continue, and that people continue to to be aware of their surroundings, to be aware of the people that they passed, the people they interact with and to report any potential sighting of Alex to us.

"If you see someone that you believe to be Alex, stay with them and call 911."