Saturday is Ryan Shtuka's 21st birthday. The Alberta man has been missing since Feb. 17 when he was last seeing leaving a party on Burfield Drive in Sun Peaks at 2:10 a.m.
Extensive searches of the area have turned up no signs of Shtuka, but his family continues to scour the area in hopes of finding him. Volunteers have organized a search party to take place on Saturday, with shuttle buses transporting volunteers from Kamloops to Sun Peaks.
Shtuka’s Albertan parents remain in the resort town and have offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to his recovery. The website ryanshtuka.com has been set up to provide information on the search and coordinate volunteers who want to help.
Tasteful Excursions is offering the free shuttle service from the Fox ‘n Hounds Pub (20-945 W Columbia St) for any volunteers wanting to assist in the search on Shtuka’s 21st birthday.
Two buses holding 28 people will leave the Fox ‘n Hounds starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday. The shuttles will drop volunteers off at the same location at the end of the day, leaving Sun Peaks at 3 p.m. Volunteers need to register for the shuttle at ryanshtuka.com by 6 p.m. on Friday.
The shuttle will take volunteers to the command centre at Hearthstone Lodge, where there will also be free snowshoe rentals.
Anyone who can’t make it on Saturday, but wants to assist with ground searches, can register as a volunteer here to receive further information.
The Facebook group Missing: Ryan Shtuka has now grown to 19,736 members as word of Shtuka’s disappearance spreads. A Go Fund Me campaign created to support the search and Shtuka’s parents, who are from Beaumont Alta. but have said they will not leave Sun Peaks until their son is found, has raised nearly $70,000. Find it here.
To celebrate Ryan Shtuka’s 21st birthday, his family is hoping to make the world a kinder place by asking anyone and everyone to offer a random act of kindness. They are spreading the word online with #KindnessforRyan this Saturday.
Anyone with information related to Shtuka’s disappearance is asked to contact Kamloops RCMP at 250-828-3000.
