The mother of a man who was reported missing in 2016 issued an emotional plea on Tuesday for anyone with information on the homicide of her 30-year-old son to come forward.
Fletcher Kimmel was last seen getting into a black, Toyota Rav4 outside a 7-Eleven store, in the 3500 block of 39 Avenue N.E., just before midnight on September 27, 2016.
His family reported him missing and a search was begun, but it turned up no clues.
Then on January 29, 2017, a member of the public found human remains near the Jumping Pound Demonstration Forest south of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 22. An autopsy revealed the remains were Fletcher Kimmel.
"I'll never forget our last words," said Sandra Kimmel, Fletcher's mother. "We were on the way to Kelowna and I told him to take care, and he said 'Will do'. I have no idea what happened, I know where he was found and nothing else, I was looking forward to seeing him three days later, only to discover I'll never see him again, I'll never talk to him again. I'm now living every parent's nightmare: I have outlived my child."
Investigators say his death was a homicide and several people were likely involved. Police released a photo of a man they say used Kimmel’s bank card on October 9, 2016, but stopped short of calling him a suspect.
"It's a person we certainly want to talk to at this particular point, I'm trying to stay away from labels but we want to talk to that person to get an understanding of their involvement in coming across that bank card," said Acting Insp. Paul Wozney of the Major Crimes Unit.
Police say they have exhaused all investigative leads but his mother is pleading for any information.
"We deserve to know what happened, exactly what happened in those final moments. I don't want this to become a case in a file box on a shelf," she said.
Anyone with information about who the man in the surveillance image is or any information about the homicide is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.
