Possible Sighting Of Missing Australian

Owen Rooney

The search of a missing Australian man has been extended to Vancouver Island after a possible sighting in Nanaimo.

The incident occurred on November 5th 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 Owen ROONEY, 24 years old and last seen in Grand Forks on August 14th.

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 Owen ROONEY. He was standing off to the side but she said that she did get a good look at him. Owen ROONEY’s parents have flown in to Canada from their home in Australia to spearhead the search for their missing son. 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.

ROONEY, shown in the attached photo is 5ft 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

There is also a blog site posted at www.find-owen.com and a Facebook page "Help Find Owen Rooney".