The parents of a missing Winnipeg teen made an emotional plea for help Wednesday afternoon.
Cooper Nemeth, 17, disappeared early Sunday morning after attending a party in Valley Gardens. The teen has not checked in with family or friends since.
“Cooper, if you can see this, your friends need you. Your team needs you. We need you,” said Nemeth's dad, Brent. “We love you Cooper, please come home and we can figure everything out. Doesn’t matter, we will take care of it.”
Nemeth’s parents, Brent and Gaylene, were part of a news conference Wednesday urging the public to help assist the investigation.
“As the days go by, we are getting more worried about his safety,” said Brent. “We are reaching out to you all today for any information that anyone can provide no matter how big or small.”
The teen was last seen wearing a black jacket with a River East Marauders hockey logo on the front, black pants and brown skater runners.
Nemeth’s father said the disappearance is very unusual, adding the teen would always text his whereabouts.
“For him to not come home and shower, and change his clothes, is not him. He has never done that,” said Brent. “He would always come home.”
The search for witnesses
At the same news conference, Winnipeg police provided an update on its investigation.
Officers are now trying to locate two witnesses who may have been with Nemeth in the early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 14.
“There are two individuals that we want to track down and speak to, and we need the public’s help to do that,” said Det.-Sgt. Shaunna Neufeld with the Winnipeg police missing persons unit.
The witnesses are known as Derek and Brittany, and police believe the pair is driving a white, four-door Honda Civic.
“We really need the public’s help in identifying who Derek and Brittany are,” said Neufeld.
Since the case is still an active investigation, police said they are limited in how much information they can release to media and the public.
When asked how they learned of the two witnesses, police said they had information that led them to believe these were two people Nemeth had spent some time with the morning of his disappearance.
“We haven’t been able to track them down and speak to them. We are interested in doing that, they are witnesses in this investigation,” said Neufeld.
Police said they are not ruling anything out in the case. No one has been taken into custody at this time.
Friends, family and volunteers will continue searching for Nemeth, after already canvassing North Kildonan, East Kildonan, Elmwood and the North End.
Another search party will take place on Wednesday at 4 p.m. starting from Gateway Recreation Centre.
The family is using the hashtag #findcip on social media to get the word out about Nemeth.
Anyone with information is asked to call Winnipeg police at 204-986-6250.
