It’s not the ending Christine Maynard-Balcaen wanted for her son — a father reported missing last fall amid mental health and addictions struggles.
Ryan Cody Maynard, who was 29 years old when he disappeared last November, was found dead in Steinbach on Wednesday.
Maynard-Balcaen jumped in her car and drove into the southeastern Manitoba city that day, after hearing through the grapevine that RCMP had found a body and cordoned off a section of Hespeler Street.
When she arrived, she ran toward a Mountie at the scene.
“I just kind of yelled out…. ‘Is it Ryan? Is it Ryan? You know, I’m his mother. Is it Ryan? Please tell me it’s Ryan.’ I just wanted this nightmare to end,” she said through tears in an interview with CBC.
“As hard as it is, we’re very relieved that he’s been found.”
The father of a five-year-old was reported missing in November. Maynard-Balcaen said she was devastated to learn from the officer at the scene that the body had been found in a treed area by a seven-year-old.
On Thursday, RCMP said they had found a body Wednesday they believed was linked to an ongoing missing person investigation.
They would not confirm the person was Ryan Maynard or the possible cause of death, deferring to the pending results of the chief medical examiner’s autopsy.
FULL STORY: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/steinbach-death-ryan-maynard-missing-1.6810830