In April 2007, 17-year-old Jeff Surtel left his home in Mission at midnight on a bicycle and hasn’t been seen since.
Over 16 years later, his family is still searching for answers.
Gary and Dawn Surtel, Jeff’s parents, say until they find out what happened and get closure, the pain will never end for them.
“It’s probably any parent’s worst nightmare basically. It doesn’t get any worse,” Gary said.
Gary and Dawn reached out to Please Bring Me Home to help find new leads in a case that has gone cold.
Please Bring Me Home was founded in 2018 with the aim of soliciting anonymous tips regarding cold missing person cases across Canada.
“Any time we can get Jeff out there in public’s thoughts again, it’s a good thing. Maybe someone is holding back on some information and due to passage of time, maybe they’re willing to bring information forward now,” Gary said.
Jeff is described as 6’1 with brown hair and eyes and several moles on the left side of his cheek. At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing dark blue jeans, a navy blue t-shirt, a navy hoodie and black runners.
His bike is described as a blue CCM mountain bike with yellow front forks.
For Angela Heino, Surtel’s disappearance is her first case as a volunteer investigator with Please Bring Me Home.
Heino’s background is in nursing and education. She currently works as a nursing teacher at BCIT but has built a background in forensics over the years.
She’s passionate about the work and says she’s honoured to be able to help in any way she can.
