Probe into missing man's case questioned

The sister of a Winnipeg man missing for more than two months says she feels police have taken efforts to search for him less seriously because he's a man.

On Feb. 1, police issued a statement asking for the public's help in locating Kerry Klyne, also known as Darren Klyne, 28. He was last heard from on Nov. 26, and last seen intoxicated at the corner of Maryland Street and Broadway Avenue, according to Ida Pangman.

She phoned his work a few days later and was told he had quit, Pangman said. He also appeared to stop using his Facebook account around the same time, she said.

'Because he was a man, you don't get quite the same treatment as if it was a woman.' Ida Pangman

"To go without hearing from him for more than three days is really abnormal for him, cause we're very close," Pangman said. "We talk to each other all the time, we tell each other what's going on."

"This isn't like my brother. It's not normal for him to do that. He wouldn't just up and leave his family. He has a daughter," she said.

Pangman told CBC News she called police, who requested she call all homeless shelters, hospitals and Klyne's friends to make sure he wasn't there or with them. That route of inquiry turned up nothing, she said.

She was finally able to report him missing on Dec. 20, but Pangman said it wasn't until mid-January that his case was assigned to an investigator.

Days after that, police released information to the public for help in finding him.

"I think they did treat it differently," Pangman said. "I remember being asked questions like, 'well, does he have any mental issues?,'

"Because he was a man, you don't get quite the same treatment as if it was a woman," Pangman said.

Police wouldn't comment Wednesday on the timeline of their investigation, nor on their decision to release information about Klyne being missing to the public.

Klyne was described by police as aboriginal, six feet tall and weighing about 230 pounds. He has short black hair, brown eyes, and asmall scar on the left side of his mouth.

Klyne is known to frequent the Osborne Street area of the city, according to police.

Anyone with information regarding Klynes whereabouts is asked to contact the Winnipeg Police Service Missing Persons Unit at 204-986-6250.