Andrew Sexton disappearance still haunts mother 8 years later
Sexton not listed on RCMP missing person's website
A mother from the Northern Peninsula says she still wonders what happened to her son eight years after he went missing.
Andrew Sexton was 21-years-old when he didn't return from a snowmobiling trip with two friends between Goose Cove and St. Anthony in 2006.
Darlene Sexton said the search for her son turned up only his snowmobile, with no sign of what happened to him.
"We had helicopters, we had search teams come in from other places with search dogs and cadaver dogs and divers … and the Newfoundland Rangers, and we tried every avenue possible to find him but it only led us to his Ski-Doo," she said.
"The Ski-Doo was fine, the key was in her, she was full of gas — maybe not full, but lots of gas — she was in perfect condition, in running order … just the Ski-Doo."
The two people who were with Sexton at the time of his disappearance were teenagers at the time.
One of the men told CBC News it was hard for them to live in the community after the incident, and they felt like a cloud of suspicion hovered over them.
He said they were both interviewed multiple times by RCMP, and even took a lie detector test.
RCMP Const. Mike Babstock said the two men accompanying Sexton were never considered suspects in his disappearance.
The two men maintain Sexton got lost in the storm. The RCMP said they believe the same.
Not listed in missing person's registry
Sexton's mother said she just wants to find out what really happened to her son.
"Obviously something went wrong in there that day, whether it be weather-wise or something else. There's just too many unanswered questions," she said.
She said her son's name is missing from the Newfoundland and Labrador RCMP's missing person's registry online, as well as the national registry.
"I find it a little hard to grasp. I know he's not the only name that's not on that list, as well, because there are others, but I don't understand why his name isn't on the list," said Sexton.
"No matter the outcome, he's still a missing person and I think it's important to have his name on there."
The RCMP said there are nearly 300 missing people in its jurisdictions in Newfoundland and Labrador, including those lost at sea, who are not on the registry.
RCMP said all missing people from this province will eventually be listed on the national website for missing people, along with others from across Canada.
Police said they review the Sexton case every few months, and they investigate any tips submitted.