'We need answers': Protest held at RCMP detachment for suspicious disappearance of N.B. man

Cathy Mitchell Cooper and supporter Carol Madsen outside the Hampton RCMP detachment Saturday morning. (Derek Haggett/CTV News)

A crowd of over 20 people stood in the pouring rain Saturday in front of the RCMP detachment in Hampton, N.B., to bring awareness to a missing person’s case.

David Alexander Mitchell from the Quispamsis area has been missing since early September.

His mother Cathy Mitchell Cooper was one of the protestors who stood in the rain Saturday to make sure her son is not forgotten, and the case gets the attention she feels it deserves.

“I need answers. I need answers from the RCMP,” said Mitchell Cooper. “It’s 73 days today. Myself, the community are heartbroken. We need answers as to where my son is.”

A crowd of over 20 people stood in the pouring rain Saturday in front of the RCMP detachment in Hampton, N.B., to bring awareness to a missing person’s case.

Mitchell Cooper said the protest was organized in hopes of receiving more information from the RCMP in Hampton and Sussex.

“I need updates. I’m upset and frustrated as many are with the pace of this case with the RCMP,” she said. “I need to bring my son home wherever he is. I need to find him. I need closure. We’re devastated. We miss him.”

Mitchell Cooper said she needs the RCMP’s help in finding her son and she’s counting on them to do so.

RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Luc Samson said the Sussex detachment is actively investigating Mitchell’s disappearance and the missing person’s file is a priority.

“Police consider his disappearance to be suspicious,” said Samson in an email. “Police are also investigating to determine if criminality was involved with his disappearance.”

Police have received information and tips from the public which are being followed-up on.

Mitchell’s investigation is being led by the Southeast District Community Crime Reduction Unit [CCRU].

“The CCRU and Sussex RCMP are looking for any new details about his disappearance, even if they seem small, as it may be that one piece of evidence required to help us locate David Mitchell,” said Samson. “Police continue to urge the public to report anything that may help further the investigation directly to police, and not to speculate on the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.”

According to police, the Sussex detachment has been in regular contact with Mitchell’s family and have been providing updates on a weekly basis. 

Mitchell’s uncle Tony Saulnier also braved the rain and wind on Saturday.

“We feel there is a lack of communication with the family with the police force,” said Saulnier. “We know that they can’t divulge all of their information, but we are getting nothing.”

A photo of Tony Saulnier, David Mitchell's uncle. (Derek Haggett/CTV News)

Saulnier said it’s out of character for his nephew to just disappear and have no contact with his loved ones.

“For this long, absolutely not,” he said. “Not to reach out to his mother, grandfather or even myself in that long of a time, absolutely not.”

According to a news release sent by the Sussex Detachment of the Southeast District RCMP on Sept. 26, the 48-year-old was last seen at a home in Whites Mountain Road in Whites Mountain on Sept. 9.

Mitchell was reported missing to police on Sept. 25.

He’s described as approximately six-foot-two inches tall and weighs around 200 pounds with hazel eyes and a grey goatee.

It’s not known what he was wearing at the time of his disappearance.

On Nov. 14, an update was provided from the Sussex RCMP saying they are still trying to find Mitchell.

“Police are looking for any new details about his disappearance, even if they seem small. It is important to report anything that may help further the investigation directly to police and not speculate or share information on social media platforms. This information could help locate him,” stated the release.

Mitchell Cooper was very emotional when discussing her son’s disappearance.

“My boy is out there, in the woods. I don’t know where he is, but I know he’s gone,” she said. “He has not used his phone since September 9th. He hasn’t used his bank account. He hasn’t called anybody. He just dropped off the face of the earth.”

Mitchell Cooper said her son has three sons of his own.

She’s been told to be patient and wait for news.

“All I want for the people who tell me to wait, these things take time, is to lie in your bed in the evening and think of your children. And think when you lay in bed at night, you don’t know where they are. You haven’t seen them for 73 days,” she said. “I have lived in torment. This is destroying my life, my family’s life.”

The point of the protest was not to be critical of the police, she said, but to attract more attention to the investigation.

“I don’t want to criticize the RCMP. I know they have a lot of work. That’s not my intention. My intention is just to make them aware that I am upset and frustrated with the pace of the case,” said Mitchell Cooper.

Police are asking anyone with information on where Mitchell may be to contact them at [phone] or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

“He needs to be found,” said Mitchell Cooper.

Another protest is scheduled to take place Friday at the RCMP detachment in Sussex.

Mitchell Cooper said she’ll be there for that one too. 

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