The weeklong search for Coquitlam man Shin Ik Noh was buoyed by its best lead yet Tuesday after a pair of homeless people said they had seen the missing man and given him food in Gates Park.
Sam Noh said the search for his 64-year-old father 鈥� who has Alzheimer鈥檚 and walked away from his home on Sept. 18 鈥� has been aided by a legion of volunteers, among them one who brought back the promising tip.
鈥淭hey mentioned that they鈥檝e seen an Asian male, my dad, sleeping underneath a bridge,鈥� said Noh. 鈥淥ne of them actually had contact with him by providing him with food.鈥�
Noh said the description they offered matched that of his father, including his clothing and facial appearance.
After the tip came in, Noh said he searched the Port Coquitlam park until 2 a.m. While he was there, he passed other people who had also been out looking for his father.
鈥淎s each day goes on the search party gets larger,鈥� said Noh.
Volunteers have been aided by a significant online effort involving Google Maps and a website dedicated to the search.
鈥淲e have a very elaborate setup here just to kind of predict where to look next and to see if there are any trends happening where all the sightings are happening,鈥� said Noh.
The Google Map allows volunteers to plot where they鈥檝e searched.
Shin Ik Noh is described as 5鈥�6鈥� tall and 160 lbs. with an average build and short black hair that is greying on the sides. When he left home, he was wearing a black New York Rangers cap, a green and blue plaid shirt, dark green pants, and black dress shoes. He speaks mostly Korean.
Noh added that he would like anyone who thinks they see his father to talk to him.
鈥淗e鈥檚 probably very confused at this point, but he still knows his name.鈥�
