Police are appealing for the public’s help to solve the case of a Victoria man who went missing in February 2017 and was found dead weeks later near the Malahat summit.
Richard (Blair) Young was a 72-year-old father and had never been on police radar when he went missing in February 2017.
A video from his Victoria apartment building showed him leaving on Feb. 8.
He was found dead March 2 on a forested slope near the Malahat summit. Search-and-rescue teams from the Cowichan Valley and Salt Spring Island used ropes to conduct a steep-angle recovery of the body.
“Based on evidence we’ve recovered and the totality of the circumstances, we believe this is a murder,” Insp. David Hall of the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit said Wednesday from Victoria police headquarters.
“We believe that there are people who are close to the person or persons responsible for the homicide who have knowledge of what happened to Blair, and we are asking those people to come forward and speak with our investigators.
“No matter how insignificant it seems, we ask that you come forward if you have information that can help investigators bring closure to Blair Young’s family.”
Hall said Young’s banking information and credit cards were used fraudulently on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland for a total of more than $30,000.
“We are currently examining every aspect of that activity.”
Young was devoted to his loved ones, Hall said, and kept in daily phone contact with them to check on their well-being.
His family became increasingly worried when they did not hear from him, as per the normal routine, and he was reported missing to the Victoria Police Department on Feb. 14, 2017, Hall said.
Despite the weather at the time being cold and snowy, the apartment video shows Young leaving in a light jacket. “This leads investigators to believe that he did not expect to be spending time outdoors, and he did not expect to be gone long,” Hall said.
He said the major crime unit was brought in “due to the suspicious and uncharacteristic nature of the disappearance.”
Hall said police have several leads and suspects have been identified. Anyone with information is asked to call the major crime unit’s information line at 250-380-6211.
