Justin Eric Joseph Rutter was 14 when he left his home in Ottawa’s Lowertown on the afternoon of Thursday, October 8, 2009. He kissed his mother goodbye and promised not to be late; later that evening, about 10 p.m., he parted ways with a friend on Côté Street near St. Laurent Boulevard and said he didn’t want to go home and might stay out late or all night. When he hadn’t returned by the next morning he was reported missing.

At last sighting he was about 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 4 inches, 110 pounds, slim, with light brown hair, brown eyes and three moles or freckles forming a triangle on his right cheek. He was wearing a brown and white zip-up waffle-pattern hoodie, dark blue jeans, a plain T-shirt and black-and-white Adidas running shoes. Family searches and police inquiries produced a few unconfirmed sightings near the Ottawa Mission and the Salvation Army men’s shelter but no confirmed trace.

Over the years police have received hundreds of tips, followed a 2014 lead involving Vancouver, and issued age-progressed images in 2014 and 2024. The Ottawa Police Service is offering a $5,000 reward for information that confirms where Justin is or leads to an arrest. Has anyone in Lowertown, Vanier or the Byward Market area around October 2009 remembered seeing him or heard anything that could help?