Search for Owen Rooney gains momentum with reported sightings
By Boundary Sentinel
The search for missing Australian man, Owen Rooney, has been extended to Vancouver Island after possible sightings.
One incident in Nanaimo occurred on Nov. 5 but was not reported to police until one week later. The adult female caller told police she saw a news report that same night and decided after watching it that one of the three bore a resemblance to Rooney, 24-years-old and last seen in Grand Forks on Aug. 14. The possible sighting involved a group of three males, all in their early twenties, going door to door in the north end of Nanaimo attempting to sell dream catchers. The caller never spoke with the male who resembled Rooney. He was standing off to the side but she said that she did get a good look at him. The male spoken to at the caller’s door had a Jamaican accent and was wearing his hair in dreadlocks. “There were no other reports received of these males going door to door and investigators in Grand Forks have advised that the majority of sightings were reported in the Cranbrook and Kimberly area. Having said that, we felt it would be prudent at this time to post Mr. Rooney’s picture in the possibility he has made his way to the Island ,” said Constable Gary O’Brien, media spokesperson for the Nanaimo RCMP. According to a CBC report today, Saanich police now say people in Parksville, Nanaimo and Saanich have all reported seeing Rooney earlier this month. In at least two of the sightings, Rooney was seen selling dream-catchers door-to-door with other men. The CBC reported that Sgt. Dean Jantzen said the Saanich sighting is credible because the person reported having direct contact with Rooney. Jantzen asks anyone who sees Rooney to call 911 immediately. Rooney’s parents flew to Canada from their home in Australia to spearhead the search for their missing son along with their two daughters. After spending months in the Grand Forks area, they moved their search to Vancouver because of reports of sightings there. Rooney, shown in the attached photo is 5 foot 9 inches, 160 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the Nanaimo RCMP at 250–754-2345 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-22-8477 or go online to www.nanaimocrimestoppers.ca
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