Search continues for Nathan, Toronto man now missing for 5 months

It's been five months since a man went missing from his Toronto home and police say they still have no updates on his whereabouts.

Nathan, 37, has been missing since May 12, when he was last seen around 7 p.m. in the area of Jane Street and Sheppard Avenue West in Toronto.

Victor Kwong from the Toronto Police Service told CBC Toronto in an email statement the missing persons unit is relying heavily on tips from the community, but have no update on the investigation.

"It's taking a mental toll on all of our families," said Nathan's cousin Jason, who adds that they, along with friends and volunteers, are still searching for him at every opportunity.

A Facebook page has amassed over 7,000 members who are assisting in the search and supporting Nathan's family.

Nathan has Down syndrome, is four feet, six inches tall, weighs 170 pounds and was last seen with a full beard and moustache. Jason says he walks with a limp, appearing to be slightly off balance.

Jason previously told CBC Toronto that the family believes Nathan was making his way to his former home of Kitchener-Waterloo, where his father passed away in December 2022. 

Toronto police have not provided a last name for Nathan, following a policy change in February to better protect the privacy of missing persons who may be later found.

While Jason and his family are pleading with the public to share any information with police, he says they aren't getting much information from police themselves.

"The police just haven't given us any update," said Jason, who adds that the last communication from Toronto police was in mid-July.

Toronto police declined to comment on any further details of the investigation.

One advocate for families of missing persons says that isn't uncommon.

National framework needed, says advocate

"Lack of communications was our biggest roadblock with police," said Maureen Trask, whose son, Daniel, was 28 when he went missing on Nov. 3, 2011.

Daniel's body was found by a volunteer search crew in 2015 after a three-and-a-half-year search. 

Trask is now a major advocate for families of missing persons. She says there is no national framework in Canada for how to handle missing persons, with procedures varying greatly between police agencies and data collection fragmented across Canada.

"Navigating the processes and the changes and the procedures was daunting," said Trask.

That experience led her to author a report in 2020 about why Canada needs a national framework for missing persons, which she defines as a "cross government and inter-agency strategy with defined roles and responsibilities to effectively address the issue of missing persons."

CBC Toronto requested comment from Public Safety Canada but did not receive a response before publication. This story will be updated when a response is received.

Trask says a framework would provide consistent procedures across police departments for responding to missing persons, make important data accessible and even provide resources to prevent persons from going missing in the first place.

The report also outlines recommended procedures for reporting missing persons, investigating disappearances, searching for missing persons and communicating through media when someone goes missing.

However, Trask says efforts to produce a national framework have gone largely ignored, with many over the years telling her that policing is a provincial responsibility.

2019 law provides police more tools

But progress has been made, she said.

Trask told CBC Toronto that police could not initially investigate Daniel's whereabouts in 2011 because there wasn't foul play or a criminal investigation.

"They couldn't get a warrant like you could if there was a crime," said Trask.

She says after a six year fight and support from her local MPP, Catherine Fife, the Missing Persons Act was proclaimed by Ontario's government on July 1, 2019. It provides police with additional tools when there is no evidence a crime has been committed in someone's disappearance.

The law allows police to obtain copies of records that may assist in a search, obtain a search warrant to enter a premises to locate a missing person and make an urgent demand for certain records without a court order.

Trask says a national framework would also help support families who are faced with missing loved ones, including providing reliable mental health supports and even financial resources to families who are busy searching for their loved one.

That could help families like Nathan's, she says, who Trask reached out to after his disappearance.

Meanwhile, Jason says he is hoping police will continue to reach out to the public and that anyone knowing of Nathan's whereabouts notify police, even anonymously through Crime Stoppers.

"We just want closure," said Jason. "That's all the family wants."