On the evening of July 3, 1989, 31-year-old William Gerbrand and his brother Henry were fishing in a canoe on Codette Lake near Nipawin when other boaters heard desperate cries for help around 8:00 p.m. That was the last indication of the brothers’ whereabouts. Despite an extensive search and rescue response, including divers, neither man nor their canoe was recovered.

William was 5 feet 10 inches and about 134 pounds, with wavy black hair, brown eyes, a moustache and glasses. He was last seen wearing a blue long-sleeved cowboy-style shirt, blue jeans and cowboy boots. The official suspicion is that both men drowned in a boating accident, but without recovered bodies or other physical evidence that cannot be confirmed.

The F Division RCMP Historical Case Unit continues to hold the file. Does anyone who was on or near Codette Lake that night remember hearing or seeing anything that could help the family?