Hope Runs Thin, May 26, 2006

Nancy Willis - Hope runs thin for family searching for son who vanished six months ago.  Reggie MacDonald, 39, slipped out of his parents' Souris home Dec. 4 without warm clothes or money and hasn't been seen or heard from since.

SOURIS - It's been six months since 39-year-old Reggie MacDonald slipped out a window of his parents' home in Souris and disappeared.
Jim and Helen MacDonald were in the process of taking their son to the Mount Herbert drug rehabilitation facility on December 4 when he vanished, with no warm clothes, no money or anything else.

Today is his 12-year-old daughter Victoria's birthday. And always before, he has come to her on that day.   "We feel this will really be our last hope if he doesn't contact us on Friday," said his father Jim MacDonald.   "Until now we've felt there was a 50/50 chance that he is still alive. But if he doesn't come or call today then the odds will change big time."

The MacDonalds are completely mystified by the total and absolute disappearance of their son. Within 20 minutes of slipping out the window, his cellphone had been deactivated. The last call he made was to his mother saying: "Where's Mom, I'm looking for Mom," but both she and his father were already out looking for him and missed the call.

Reggie had been a drug addict in Ontario for 20 years. He came home to P.E.I. last summer and was on a methadone maintenance program and was doing well.
Somehow, in the first days of December, he again came in contact with drugs, but after talking to his parents he agreed to go into the detoxification program.
While getting ready, he climbed out the window and into his old purple car and was gone.

"We don't even know if he had any shoes on when he left," Jim MacDonald said.  "He was able somehow to disappear. We feel he is alive, but it is six months now."   Jim describes his boy as a nice person and a prolific reader, but very quiet, and very, very smart. Too smart for his own good, he said.

"The last thing he said to me was 'no one is going to lock me up in a cement basement again'."   During that 20 minutes after he left, he made three other calls to friends, but none of them were home either.

Since then the RCMP have sent the information across Canada and his picture is in every police station, hospital and detox centre in the country.  There have been helicopter searches and extensive surveys of all friends, acquaintances and former landlords, but nothing, said his mom Helen.  The old car he was driving hasn't turned up either. "The last payment was made on it in December, and that was it."

Jim says they have had good help from the RCMP, but there is nowhere to turn. Now, when they see a call display read "long distance caller," they look at each other not knowing who will pick up the receiver.  "The bottom line is, you are powerless over people, when drugs are involved, absolutely powerless," said Jim.