RCMP still searching for boy’s remains 40 years after his murder

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This article was published 24/05/2017 (2522 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

David Bruce Wiebe was last seen headed out on a bike ride nearly 40 years ago. He was 13.

A friend was eventually convicted of killing him, but David’s body has never been found. The RCMP posted his profile online Thursday to mark National Missing Children’s Day, as a reminder they’re still on the case and trying to find the slain boy’s remains.

The day serves as a “stark reminder” child safety needs to be a top priority for parents, the RCMP said.

“Even after 38 years, we are optimistic we will be able to locate David and provide some closure to his family,” Sgt. Bobby Baker, head of the Manitoba RCMP’s missing and exploited persons unit, said in a news release.

The last time David’s mother saw her young son, he was wearing faded blue jeans, an orange T-shirt with a green No. 23 on it and brown running shoes with orange trim. He was going for a bike ride. He was never seen again.

“Investigations do not collect dust. Our investigators look at some of the hardest cases, ones that have not been solved in decades, or cases involving some of the most vulnerable person in society,” Baker said. “We do not give up.”David’s mother first contacted RCMP about her missing son on July 25, 1978.

In 1995, RCMP arrested a suspect: Dale Goertzen, a friend of David’s who was known to shoot targets with him, RCMP said. Goertzen pleaded to guilty to second-degree murder in the boy’s death. He received a life sentence and remains in prison, the RCMP said.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca