Family offers $10K reward for information on whereabouts of missing Indigenous man

The family of an Indigenous man who has been missing since early December is offering a $10,000 reward for information that might help them find him.

At a newsconference on Thursday, Carl Schooner Sr. made a passionate plea for help finding his son Carl Schooner Jr., who was last seen in Williams Lake, B.C., on Dec. 4, 2022.

"Carl is a hard-working young man who loved helping others and being with his family," said Schooner Sr. in a written statement from the Nuxalk Nation.

"He's a good-hearted, kind person, and it's totally out of character for him to be out of contact with us for this long."

Last seen on Dec. 4

Schooner Jr., 30, is of both Nuxalk and Heiltsuk ancestry, according to the First Nation.

In astatement in early December, the RCMP said Schooner Jr. left Bella Coola for Williams Lake on Nov. 30, and his family reported him missing onDec. 6.

The police described him as a brown-haired, brown-eyed man, six feet tall, and weighing161 pounds.

According to the Nuxalk First Nation, Schooner Jr. had no cellphone or vehicle at the time of his disappearance, and he may have been wearing a black hoodie. He has a tattoo of Rosa, his daughter's name, on his right forearm.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Madonna Saunderson toldthe news conference that all their investigative efforts to locate him have been unsuccessfuland echoed the family's call for information.

"Every piece of information is helpful, no matter how big or small,"she said.

Anyone with information about Schooner Jr. is asked to call the Williams Lake RCMP at 250-392-6211or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.