Ryan Shtuka -- Missing in British Columbia Since 2018

Details from NamUs**: 

"On February 17, 2018, Ryan Shtuka was last seen at approximately 2:10 am and was believed to have left a party on Burfield Drive to walk home to his residence located a short distance away in Sun Peaks. Ryan did not attend his job as scheduled later that day and has not been active on social media or his cell phone since."

 

Missing Person: Ryan John Marcus Shtuka
Last-contact date: February 17th, 2018 at 210am
The area where the MP was last seen: Sun Peaks Village, British Columbia; I think the Google Maps coordinates would be 50.8760120613044, -119.90712891503804 of his last-known location
Link to government source: NamUs MP#6849

Facebook Group: Missing Ryan Shtuka

---

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sex: Male
Age at time of disappearance: 20 years old

Birthdate: between February 18th, 1997 and February 17th, 1998

• The range is calculated using the missing person's age on the date of his disappearance.

Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Brown
Scar: None listed
Height/weight: 5-foot-11 and 154 pounds
BMI*: Ryan John Marcus Shtuka was in the normal range for BMI.
Tattoos: Ryan John Marcus Shtuka did not have any tattoos associated with his profiles. If you know that the missing person did have tattoos, then please post a remark at the end of this blog post on the matter.

Ryan John Marcus Shtuka, a missing person, was last heard from on February 17th, 2018 when he was 20 years old. This individual has now been missing for 3 years as of the original publication date of this blog post. He went missing from a village where a major ski hill for the region is located to the northeast of Kamloops, British Columbia.

The Sun Peaks Village area could be called a party zone. Additional to the ski hill, there is a resort at this location. The individuals that work at the resort are going to include a lot of transient young adults that live in staff accommodations. I've worked in similar settings in Jasper, Banff, Canmore, and Tofino, although the latter didn't have a ski hill.

How did Ryan disappear? We can run through some scenarios.

A bear attack isn't probable in my view. I think they'd be in hibernation at that point of the winter still. A cougar or wolf attack is possible but with any animal attack, there's a question of evidence. Animals don't have the capacity to realize they need to hide bodies.

Maybe Ryan was buried in the snow -- the region gets tons. Furthermore, the distance between his home and the house he was partying at was not lengthy, however, it was through a wooded area with a creek. This area was searched over. If he was buried in the snow somewhere then there's a question as to why he didn't turn up in the spring melt or in any of the years that have since passed.

Whenever someone goes missing, even someone who seemed content in life, there is always the possibility of secret depression and suicide. However, the question remains: if he was in the area why hasn't he turned up? On that matter, he still might turn up if he did die in the area but it's strange that there is absolutely no evidence of him there.

To me, that his remains have not been recovered in the area in what is now three years suggests that he walked on the road toward his home and may have accepted a ride from someone, even just for the short distance. In short, this could be a missing hitchhiker. However, another possible scenario should be considered.

Ryan was walking on a Friday-night/Saturday-morning at about 210am during the ski season in an area with a lot of partying. When I 'walk' on the route that he probably would have taken using Google Maps, I'm not seeing paved sidewalks. I see people walking on the shoulder of the road without marked paths. I'd expect a lot of snow to be on the side of the road in February as that's several months into the snowing season.

I think the time of night and the party-zone atmosphere increases the likelihood of a pedestrian-vehicle accident. Furthermore, Ryan's known clothing was on the darker side: he had black jeans, he had a dark blue jacket, and a maroon cap. The shirt he had was white but that would have been covered by the jacket. In short, he was not dressed visibly for someone presumably walking on the side of the road at a time of the week when there were probably some drunk drivers around.

If a drunk driver hits Ryan, then the same driver now has a motive to disappear him. If that sounds fanciful the definitive answer is that drunk drivers have tried to hide the bodies of people they've run over before:

• 18 years for Texas drunk driver who killed cyclist then tried to hide body

There are people that have thought this of Ryan's fate. If you are on board with this guess, then what's the next move? In my opinion, anyone that remembers a vehicle at Sun Peaks Village that weekend that had fresh vehicle damage might have a clue in this missing person case, especially if the damage was to the front bumper or hood. Below is a video that covers many details of Ryan's case.

Below is the clothing that was associated with Ryan's missing person case at Canada's Missing. If these items are associated with a John Doe in your area, then cross-reference the case details with Ryan's case. While DNA could lead to a match between Ryan and a John Doe, it's still a good idea to try and expedite the matching process.

1. Size 11, flat bottom sole shoes similar to VANS
2. Black, faded jeans
3. Dark blue winter jacket
4. White/grey shirt, button-up arms, and collar
5. Headphones
6. Maroon, baseball cap worn backward (perhaps as pictured)

Author: Shane Lambert (Vancouver, Canada)

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert (Vancouver, Canada) is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of March 2021.

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.
Disclaimer: Whenever possible, government sources are preferred for getting the details of a missing person's case. However, any source that the article writer deems reputable may be used.