Police say city man’s disappearance last summer ‘very likely a homicide’

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This article was published 30/10/2018 (2151 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police believe Eduardo Balaquit — the 59-year-old husband and father of two who disappeared June 4 — was the victim of a homicide.

On Wednesday, Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Rob Carver called on the public to help with any information that can lead to a break in the case.

In particular, police are asking for people in the area around Arborg — located 120 kilometres north of Winnipeg — to keep an eye out for any unusual items they may find outside as the last leaves fall from trees and many hunters head out to rural spots.

“We know from experience that often in the fall things that have been missed before in searches end up coming to light. We’re going to ask for the public’s assistance, in terms of eyes on the ground. We had an extensive ground search in the Arborg area, but we may have missed something,” Carver said.

Balaquit disappeared after heading to work on the 300 block of Keewatin Street during the evening of June 4. The next day, his van was found abandoned in a nearby, secluded parking lot, with a window smashed, his cellphone inside and belongings scattered on the ground.

On June 14, an extensive search was executed in the Arborg area, although police have declined to say what led the investigation to the rural town and what — if any — evidence turned up there.

Nonetheless, Carver said Arborg remains the best lead investigators have, adding the homicide unit believes it has been making progress in the case.

“The difficulty with cases like this, when we’re still right in the midst of an investigation, in the sense that we have not either located evidence of Mr. Balaquit or made arrests, is we just can’t put out the kind of information that I know the public and media would like to hear,” he said.

On June 27, in their last public statement on the case before Wednesday, police released surveillance footage images of two men who could have information related to the case.

Carver declined to say whether the men had been tracked down or if they — or anyone else — have been identified as suspects.

Balaquit was last seen wearing a black zip-up sweater, black pants and black shoes. He’s described as 5-4, 155 pounds with a medium build, black hair and brown eyes.

The police press conference Wednesday ended on a sombre note, when Carver was asked if police are confident in saying Balaquit had been killed.

“I don’t like to use the word ‘confident.’ I can tell you it’s always a difficult transition for investigators with what initially starts as a missing persons case to what looks very, very likely a homicide,” he said.

“(The homicide unit) is involved in this investigation and is now the lead. We certainly suspect that’s the case, but I don’t like to use the word ‘confident.’”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe