Heather Shtuka speaking with CFJC following a weekend search for her son, Ryan. (Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

MISSING: RYAN SHTUKA

Family of Ryan Shtuka building on detailed approach following RCMP search in Sun Peaks

Jun 1, 2021 | 4:25 PM

SUN PEAKS, B.C. — It’s been more than three years since Ryan Shtuka disappeared while in Sun Peaks, and this past weekend RCMP returned to the area for another search.

Ryan was not recovered on this search, but his family says their efforts to find him won’t waver.

“I want to cry because I was really…. I wanted him to be found.” Ryan’s mother Heather says she and husband Scott made the 9.5 hour trip to Sun Peaks in case there was a development.

“But I just don’t know what that day looks like. So we just have to sit there and go okay, well he wasn’t found today, what are we going to do next?”

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Heather and Scott are in regular communication with RCMP, but she says this was the first organized search for Ryan since 2018.

Trying to find leads into his disappearance has been a daily undertaking for the Shtukas since the 20-year-old was last seen leaving a party on Burfield Drive. Ryan had left to walk home around 2:00 a.m on February 17, 2018, but did not show up for work the following day, and hasn’t been active on social media or cellular networks since then.

“There’s always two theories. Any theory that you can apply to Ryan will fall into two buckets — either somebody knows something, or nobody knows anything,” explains his mother.

According to Heather, this search was designed with the idea of nobody knowing what happened to her son. RCMP teams were extensive, and she says the dug through years of built-up foliage and deadfall.

“It’s nice to have them come up and to look at the area and to give an impression about where they think this could happen.”

Watching the process has made the Shtukas want to elevate the detail work in their ground search strategy. There’s substantial terrain in Sun Peaks to comb through, and family, friends and volunteers have spent countless hours in the area. Reviewing where they plan to go from here, Heather compares their initial method to trying to paint a house by darting room to room.

“What we’ve learned from this weekend is to take a look and say okay what are our highest priorities? What are the biggest rooms that we really want to get done and just stay in those rooms and get them painted, go back and look over patches, see where they are and apply that second coat so that when we walk away we can be a little bit more confident about our process.”

Searching takes an emotional toll, but Heather says they will continue to pour their energy into it. She asks those exploring Sun Peaks to keep an eye out for anything that could lead investigators to Ryan.

“Looking for his hat, and his jacket, or his shoe, or the phone or his car keys — things like that would also be very beneficial. Things that probably will stand better test of time, and maybe be more obvious to people as they’re going through. So I just ask people to be mindful, watchful, vigilant.”

Anybody with information is urged to contact Kamloops RCMP at (250) 828-3000, or Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477.

Pictured: Ryan Shtuka