Search for B.C.'s Bernard Grempel enters 3rd year, family raises reward to $50K

Surrey, B.C., resident Bernard Grempel hasn't been seen since May 14, 2021. (Handout)

After two years of searching, the family of a missing B.C. man is offering a $50,000 reward to anyone who can help bring Bernard Grempel home.

Ettie Shurack, Grempel’s older sister, is asking the public to share the latest missing person poster of her brother in hopes of encouraging more people to come forward with information on his whereabouts.

Grempel was last seen on May 14, 2021, when Mounties say the then 28-year-old took the SkyTrain from Surrey to New Westminster before boarding the 340 bus to North Delta around 11 p.m.

Investigators have not been able to determine when or where he got off the bus.

When Grempel was first reported missing, his family offered a reward of $10,000 to anyone who found him. The offer has since been quintupled.

“We’re increasing the reward to $50,000 because you never know what might tip the boat and be the factor that pushes someone to bring new information forward,” Shurack told CTV News on Sunday.

Surrey RCMP is also renewing its plea for the public’s assistance in the search for Grempel.

“Despite police following up on all tips and avenues of investigation, he has not been located. Anyone with information is asked to call police,” Mounties wrote on Twitter Sunday.

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Shurack, who maintains regular correspondence with Surrey RCMP, says there are a few promising leads being explored. The family has also hired a private investigator and has been receiving guidance from a search and rescue professional, according to Shurack.

“We’re trying to look into different approaches from every single angle that we can,” she told CTV News.

Shurack also manages a Facebook group called “Let’s Find Bernard Grempel,” which has more than 1,100 members.

“I’d really like to thank the public, everyone who helped us in our search thus far,” said Shurack, adding she hopes people will continue keeping their eyes open. “You never know by sharing the poster who will see it and who will be triggered by a memory from that night…We are very hopeful that we can find my brother—hopefully this month,” she continued.

Answers to the family’s questions couldn’t come sooner, says Shurack.

“The last two years have been the hardest two years of my life,” said Shurack, who grieved the loss of a baby three years prior to her brother’s disappearance.

“That experience is very different from this—it’s a constant, constant searching and the mind doesn’t stop,” she said of the ongoing investigation. “I thought that, with time, the difficulty would get easier but it hasn’t because, while the intensity of the investigation and shock of the experiences have worn down, there’s just he void of not having my brother in our lives expanded,” Shurack added.

Grempel, who also goes by "Bernie," was last seen on video wearing red sweatpants, a white hoodie, a blue medical mask, and black and white Nike runners.

He’s 30 years old, stands 6’ tall, and is described as having a slim build, curly brown hair and brown eyes.

His family says Grempel was having a regular day leading up to his disappearance and exchanged text conversations with his parents and sibling. According to his bank statements, he also stopped at a local 7-Eleven to buy a chocolate bar and Slurpee earlier in the evening, as well as the purchase of a drink at Sharetea later.

Shurack says her brother is an integral part of her family and the overall community, as he’s a competitive soccer player and swimmer who coaches kids.

Anyone with information is asked to call Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Lauren Pullen