Herbert Gustave Gross, 67, was last seen in Winnipeg on May 3, 1996. He missed a planned lunch with his girlfriend the next day and also failed to attend his regular Sunday lunch with his sister, prompting family concern and a police welfare check at his suite in the Portage Village Inn on May 5. Officers found his room tidy, with clothes put away and the bed made.

Two days later an employee at a nearby drug store found seven boxes of Herbert’s personal belongings — clothing, books and household items — discarded in a dumpster behind the store. Hotel staff later reported seeing an unidentified younger man, described as a Caucasian in his mid-20s, slender, short brown hair and clean-shaven, carrying a box from Herbert’s room and saying he was helping by cleaning and collecting books. Months later police searched the Summit Road Landfill; nothing was recovered. Herbert’s daughter was later told investigators had found bloodstains in his apartment, including on the bed.

Police consider the circumstances suspicious and the disappearance remains open. Does anyone who lived or worked near Portage Village Inn in May 1996 remember the man seen taking boxes or notice anything unusual around Herbert’s suite?