It’s been almost 10 years since Chris Metallic went missing.
The 20-year-old Mount Allison University student was reported missing on Nov. 25, 2012, a day after he left a house party in downtown Sackville, N.B.
Footwear belonging to Metallic was found a few days later off Haute-Aboujagane Road, roughly 16 kilometres from the party, but nothing else was found.
Spencer Isaac was a freshman at Mount Allison at the time of his older brother’s disappearance.
He says he tries not to let his imagination run wild when thinking about what happened.
“Personally, I do feel like somebody knows something and it’s sitting with them after 10 years, it’s still with them and not being shared. At this point, whatever it is that somebody knows, it does them no good to hold on to that,.”
Metallic’s mother has been fundraising from her home in Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nation in Quebec for new billboards with her missing son’s picture on them to put up in Sackville.
Mandy Metallic says the first five years were the worst, but she’s learned to live with not knowing what happened, or where her son is.
“I don’t feel he’s alive. You always want to have that hope, but it’s kind of known. I’m not giving up hope of finding him. I believe he’s still in the woods there somewhere,” she says.
The RCMP told CTV News on Tuesday that it’s still an active missing persons case, but Metallic’s disappearance is not considered suspicious and foul play is not suspected.
Isaac says he has moved forward with his life, but there will always be a part of him frozen in time.
“It stays at me being 18-years-old when he went missing and not knowing what happened,” said Isaac. “If he’s found, however he’s found, I’m hoping that can be the end of that chapter.”
Metallic’s former roommate Daniel Legere says talking about his disappearance triggers emotions inside of him due to the lack of closure.
“No one really knows what happened and it’s made it much harder to work through emotionally,” he says.
Issac was close to his brother and called him a funny, athletic person with a passion for video games and comic books.
“He was a really was a special guy and I miss him dearly each day,” he says.
Mount Allison’s office of Indigenous Affairs will hold two ceremonies to honour Metallic later this month. On Nov. 24, a traditional sweat is scheduled on campus and a sacred fire will take place in Metallic’s memory the next day. Both events will take place at the university’s outdoor Indigenous Gathering Space.
