Family and friends are continuing to search for a 40-year-old man who went missing carrying a firearm near Rocky Mountain House last Friday.
Danny Baich, a maintenance worker, was reported missing on June 18 from the home he shares with his parents in Ferrier Acres, a country residential subdivision about 22 km west of Rocky.
His mother, Lorraine Baich, said her son went for a walk sometime on June 17 and never returned. She said on Thursday that her son walked every day around the acreage and surrounding areas so a long walk was not out of the ordinary. The family contacted the police when they noticed he was not in his room on Saturday morning.
The family believed he was wearing rubber boots, track pants, a black cap and a black liner jacket. His wallet, house keys and truck are at the family house.
Lorraine Baich said her son was depressed but has never been diagnosed.
“How do you do this?” said Lorraine Baich. “How do you live with this? They have to find him. We can’t live with him not being anywhere.”
Rocky Mountain House RCMP Cpl. Mark Burnell said volunteer search and rescue members were looking for Baich in surrounding areas over the weekend.
At the same time, police conducted a follow-up investigation where they discovered the man had a weapon. The RCMP emergency response team was brought in, as is standard procedure for safety purposes. “They discovered he had left the house with a firearm,” said Burnell. “And he was depressed and had gone into the bush.”
Burnell said neither the man nor the firearm were found. He is not believed to be dangerous or a threat to others.
RCMP and the police dogs were out for about six hours in the bush on Wednesday but nothing turned up. “We have no fresh information,” said Burnell. “We have nothing else to chase up today.”
Family members and friends have been searching every day since Saturday for the missing man. Baich is about 1.8 metres tall and weighs 77 kg (six feet, 170 pounds). He has blue eyes with brown hair with grey accents.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Rocky Mountain House RCMP detachment at 403-845-2882.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com