(File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Missing persons

One year passes since disappearance of Pelican Narrows man

Jun 13, 2019 | 6:35 PM

For one father from Pelican Narrows, his only wish this Father’s Day is to see or hear from his son.

This month marks the one year mark since Roy Custer last spoke to his son Leroy. The 33-year-old man from Pelican Narrows told his dad he was heading to Prince Albert to go to school but was not heard from since.

“It’s hard for a parent to search for his own child,” he said.

Custer explained he was not aware of his son being in any sort of trouble, only a desire to go back to school. Over the course of the past year the family has searched the highway from Prince Albert to Pelican Narrows, as well as in the communities of Flin Flon and Creighton.

The Custer family has been busy distributing these posters in the hope someone may come forward with information about Leroy’s disappearance. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

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Custer said the family had support from the Prince Albert Grand Council, as well as families in Pelican Narrows, but added the cost of searching has still been very expensive for his family.

“It’s very hard to do this because every time we come [to Prince Albert], we drive four-and-a-half hours from Pelican. That’s lots of gas money plus hotels,” he said.

The Custer family has been searching all corners of Prince Albert for any sign of Leroy. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

A handful of searchers, wearing brightly coloured orange jackets, were seen this week looking along the Riverbank area near the Water Treatment Plant. Custer said the family received a fresh lead, but did not wish to elaborate on what that lead was. He said his only request at this time was for more help.

“We would certainly appreciate if there were any volunteers that would help [with] the search,” Custer said.

A spokesperson for the Saskatchewan RCMP informed paNOW the investigation into Leroy Custer’s disappearance is still ongoing. There are currently 11 active missing persons files in the province.

Update: paNOW had learned that the “lead” the family had received, was the discovery of bones in the city area. Friday afternoon, the Prince Albert Police Service confirmed a number of bones were located late Wednesday afternoon, but were found to belong to an immature animal.

The bones have since been destroyed. The bones were found near 20th Street and Fifth Ave. E.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell