'Any explanation becomes possible': Wife of missing Kootenay teacher pleads for answers
The wife of a Kootenay-area teacher who disappeared almost a month ago is desperate for any clues about his disappearance.
"It's extremely distressing. It's hard to know what to do or how to be when you don't have any answers," said Alvin Dunic's wife, Teeka Ferguson.
Dunic, 57, was reported missing May 29 around noon near Crawford Bay, B.C., a small community about an hour north of Creston.
He had stepped out during lunch hour to find a spot near Crawford Creek where his students could complete a poetry project. Dunic is a teacher at Crawford Bay Elementary-Secondary school.
When Dunic failed to return, he was reported missing.
At the time, water levels were running high in the creek with spring run-off and after searchers found his car two kilometres from the water, the rescuers focused on whether the teacher had been swept into the creek.
Crews from around the region combined efforts to look for Dunic in the creek, nearby fields, forests, and Crawford Bay — but to no avail.
"In the absence of any evidence, any explanation becomes possible," Ferguson said.
Other possibilities
Ferguson said she has shifted her focus to the possibility Dunic is somewhere else.
She says one possibility is Dunic may have had an episode of confusion and somehow ended up on the road and is elsewhere.
He had a similar episode five years ago, she explained.
"In talking to a lot of community members — because I've had to ask those questions myself as I'm processing — people that have known him, people he confided in [all said] he seemed really happy."
"He talked about how happy he was, how he was looking forward to the rest of the school year. He was looking forward to his kids going off to college in the next few years and his plans to support them to do that.
"He was such a well-loved person."
Creston RCMP have opened a missing persons file on Dunic and ask Crawford Bay-area residents to be on the look-out for Alvin or any clothing, footwear or personal items which may help locate him.
With files from Daybreak Southand Bob Keating
