I must admit, I did not know Greg Welstead that well. I wouldn't say that I consider him a friend, more of a community source and a friend of the newspaper.
I received emails from Greg on occasion from the many community organizations that he volunteered his time for and his work with the Gibsons and District Chamber of Commerce and Just Business magazine.
I had a pleasant but brief conversation with him at the most recent Chamber annual general meeting on March 2 at the Sunshine Coast Golf and Country Club. He looked great, wished me a belated Happy New Year in the buffet line and said he was back and looking forward to getting reconnected with the newspaper.
At the time, I didn't think anything of the conversation, only that I enjoyed our chat, as I always did with Greg. I gave him my card and asked him to email me when he had the chance to discuss some up-coming events he would be involved in and what we could do to help him promote them.
It came as a shock to me and his family and friends when we found out he had gone missing after a car accident on Monday, March 12.
For five days, friends, family, community members and volunteers from Sunshine Coast Search and Rescue and other search and rescue organizations from around the province scoured the wooded area near the crash site looking for him. The search was exhaustive and comprehensive, but sadly, there has been no sign of Greg. Where is he? Is he OK? Questions I know many who knew Greg are asking themselves and wondering.
How does someone seemingly just vanish without a trace?
Greg's disappearance brings back memories of another mystery that, many years later, is still unsolved.
On Nov. 27, six years ago, 80-year-old Rhody Lake of Sechelt left her home in Sandy Hook for a walk and never returned. A massive search involving 16 search and rescue teams (many of the same volunteers who were involved in the search for Greg), search dogs and an RCMP helicopter combed more than 40 square kilometres of rugged forest looking for Rhody, but no trace of her has ever been found.
When we spoke with Rhody's daughter in December for the six-year anniversary and update to this story, Jennifer Lake-Tipper said it just gets harder and harder every day not knowing what happened to her mother and how her life ended.
My heart breaks and goes out to Rhody's family and friends, and now to Greg's friends. I cannot imagine what it feels like to not know what has happened to their loved one, to not have some closure.
My only hope is that someone out there knows what happened to Rhody and they will come forward to the police. And someone knows or has seen Greg.
Come home soon, Greg. Know that many people miss you and love you.
