Mom pleads for answers 5 years after son's disappearance in B.C.

On Friday, five years to the day since her son seemingly vanished without a trace, Eva Couture returned to Chilliwack in hopes she may finally know what happened him.

Originally from Edmonton, Kristofer Couture moved to B.C. for a construction job in January 2019. He disappeared later that month.

On Jan. 25, Kris was seen at work in Maple Ridge, and later at a gym in Burnaby. According to his family, he spent the night at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, and went to a grocery store in the city on the afternoon of Jan. 26.

Then, on Jan. 27, a police officer found the then-25-year-old’s car—a light blue 2003 Saturn Ion with Alberta plates—at the Elk Mountain trailhead in Chilliwack. The rear window was smashed out.

Several searches on the mountain in the following months turned up empty, and the Chilliwack RCMP say they’ve received very few tips about the missing man.

“I love my son,” Eva told CTV News through tears, while standing outside a Safeway in Chilliwack Friday.

She was collecting donations for a local food bank and handing out flyers to raise awareness about Kris—seeking to spark someone’s memory of seeing him before he went missing.

“There are a million scenarios that go through my head every day,” she said. “Was Kris even on the mountain? I don’t know. Did something happen somewhere else?”

She said Kris was never the same after his dad died from brain cancer back in 2011, and he may have been depressed at the time of his disappearance.

However, Eva added it would be out of character for Kris to abandon his belongings and car.

“I tried to contact him during that time and I should have tried harder,” she said.

The mother has been offering a $10,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to finding her son, and it was doubled to $20,000 this week thanks to a donation.

“I just need one person to try and remember if they saw him on that mountain,” Eva said.

Cpl. Carmen Keiner with the Chilliwack RCMP was in attendance Friday, and told CTV News the detachment will continue investigating.

“Somebody knows something and we really urge that person to come forward,” she said. “Any lead, no matter how small a detail, we will follow up on.”

Police describe Kris as a white man with brown hair and brown eyes, standing 5’8” tall and weighing 190 pounds.

Anyone with information can call the Chilliwack RCMP at 604-702-4611 or leave an anonymous tip via Crime Stoppers.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Yasmin Gandham