Volunteers in northern Ont. search for clues in two missing persons cases

The volunteer missing persons investigation group Please Bring Me Home  is in Timmins searching for two men who went missing ten years apart in the same area.

79-year-old Luciano Trinaistich went missing in 2007 and 44-year-old Christoper Rivers in 2017 but their vehicles were discovered in the same wooded area in northern Ontario. (Supplied)

The organization is hoping a search will turn up new evidence.

Volunteers are scouring the bush near Murphy Road, in hopes of finding clues about what happened to two men who disappeared in the same wooded area.

Luciano Trinaistich, then 79, went missing in July 2007 while blueberry picking. Christoper Rivers, 44, was reported missing just more than a decade later in August 2017.

The only evidence police uncovered was their abandoned vehicles.

“Chris’ car was found over there, Luciano’s was over there,” said Julie Charette with the search group.

“Between the two was 400 feet. So, that’s why we picked this area.”

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Police conducted several ground searches for Rivers and one for Trinaistich at the times of their disappearances/ They all turned up empty.

Local volunteers recently conducted drone searches and now this group is determined to find evidence by searching on foot.

“We’re looking for bones, shallow graves, clothing, shoes, hats … keys, water bottles, anything that sparks our attention,” said Charette.

“Everything’s worth looking at, that’s for sure.”

The group has an anthropologist on standby to distinguish between animal and human remains. If a skull is found, police will be contacted right away.

Local prospector Ken Pye is leading the search. He told CTV News that this time of year is much better for a search than when the two men went missing.

“The blueberry patches were two feet high. It’s just like a carpet, you can’t see the ground. Right now, we can walk in the bush and see 20 feet in either direction and see the ground,” said Pye.

“So, maybe we’ve got a chance.”

The search group is a mix of local volunteers and family and friends.

The group said they are just doing what they can and hoping to find something to help.

A.J. Zimmerman worked with Trinaistich at the local EMS.

“He was my supervisor on the ambulance, way back when. I worked with his son, too, Marcel, and so on,” said Zimmerman.

“So, just trying to do my part, with my wife and myself.”

Though enough time has passed for some evidence to be overtaken by the bush, the search group said they are confident it will find something, having helped solve at least 17 missing persons cases across the country.

The group said “if there’s any evidence to be found here, it won’t stay hidden for long.”

Volunteers with the missing persons investigation group Please Bring Me Home searching an area near Murphy Road in Timmins in May 2023. (Sergio Arangio/CTV News Northern Ontario)