Mounties seek info in 2018 missing persons case

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This article was published 12/09/2022 (837 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RCMP are again making a public appeal for information in the disappearance of a rural Manitoba man more than four years ago.

Vernon Karl Otto was last seen May 29, 2018.

The then-66-year-old met with family that morning, and told them he was going to run errands and do yard work at his home outside Stead, near the eastern edge of Lake Winnipeg, about 88 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, RCMP said Tuesday.

Otto told his family he planned to go look at a crawler tractor. Someone also spoke to him that afternoon, around 1 p.m., while he was believed to be working his field.

At about 4:50 p.m., his truck was spotted travelling southbound on Highway 12 before turning west onto Road 94 North.

The next day, his 2005 white extended cab pickup was found burnt out a short distance from his home on Road 94 North. Mounties later determined the vehicle had been intentionally set ablaze.

RCMP major crime investigators will be in Stead in the coming weeks handing out pamphlets with information on the case to local residents, and hanging up posters in stores, churches and community centres aimed at eliciting new information on Otto’s disappearance.

“We strongly believe that people in the area may have seen Vernon’s truck on Highway 12 and local provincial roads near Stead early in the evening of May 29, 2018,” RCMP spokeswoman Tara Seel said in a statement.

“There may be some reluctance by these witnesses to come forward, but we need those with information to contact investigators. Even a seemingly small detail could help investigators move this case forward.”

Mounties hope to speak with anyone who had potential business dealings with Vernon about the purchase or sale of a crawler tractor, or any large construction or farming implement in May 2018, RCMP said.

RCMP ask anyone who has provided information previously, or has new information to provide, to contact investigators at 1-888-673-3316.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca