UNSOLVED MYSTERIES: Michael Dunahee’s disappearance

VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – It’s one of Canada’s best known missing persons cases: Michael Dunahee, who vanished in Victoria more than two decades ago.

It was March 24th, 1991. The Dunahee family was on the way to a field for a football game when four-year-old Michael asked to go to the nearby playground where there were other kids.

Michael went while his parents unloaded the car. His father was supposed to go supervise him. But less than two minutes later, they turned around and he was gone.

Crystal Dunahee, Michael’s mother, says her family will never give up hope.

“In the blink of an eye, things can change so quickly. It’s a weird world we live in these days. It’s not like when we were growing up and we could go play for all hours and not have to check in with our parents to let them know where we were. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s unimaginable,” she tells us.

“I can’t imagine anybody else having to go through what we’ve been going through. It’s a nightmare. It’s a continual nightmare because you just don’t know.”

“My daughter, she’s 24 now, so she’s grown up her entire life knowing she’s got a brother that she’s never met. We’ve been trying to go on the best we can without jeopardizing the children that are still at home because you don’t want them to suffer for something else that has happened in your life and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Crystal adds.

The family never moved or changed their home phone number because they are things Michael knew.

As hard as it has been, Crystal is optimistic they’ll find him. “One day. One day, something will happen and he’ll realize that he’s got another family out there that’s looking for him.”

Last year, a Surrey man came forward, saying he thought he was Dunahee because he moved around a lot as a child, but that was ruled out following a DNA test.

The case remains open and the investigation is still active. There have been thousands of tips but never anything solid enough to lead police to an arrest.

If you have any information about the case you are asked to call the Victoria Police Detective Tip Line at (250) 995-7444 or at (250) 995-7654.

Tune in this week for more on this series, as we take a look at some of the most intriguing unsolved mysteries in BC.

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