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Missing Kincaid man had been searching for lost dog, partner says

“It is extremely unusual and this is not normal in anyway for Claude to (disappear)."

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The common law partner of a man who went missing from an acreage in southern Saskatchewan last week says she is “extremely concerned” about his well-being and begs anyone who might have information about his disappearance to contact the RCMP.

Marie Moldovan said she last saw her partner, 48-year-old Claude Landry, on the evening of July 12 when he left their home in Kincaid, about 240 kilometres southwest of Regina, with a couple she did not know.

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According to Moldovan, she and Landry had been shopping in the nearby town of Gravelbourg on July 12 when they met a couple who said they might have seen Moldovan and Landry’s missing dog, a labrador mix named Walker, who had gone missing earlier in the month. Moldovan said she had shared information about the dog’s disappearance on social media and had also spread the news via word of mouth.

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The couples exchanged phone numbers and Moldovan said Landry called the couple that evening and asked if they could take him to the dog.

Moldovan said the couple picked Landry up shortly before 8 p.m. on July 12. Landry didn’t take his wallet or his phone, which was being charged.

Because Landry didn’t have his phone, Moldovan said she called the couple who picked him up later that evening to check in on the search. She said she spoke to Landry, who told her they hadn’t found Walker.

According to Moldovan, Landry told her, “No worries. I’m on my way home. I love you.”

Moldovan hasn’t heard from him or seen him since.

RCMP said Monday that a major crimes unit is assisting the Gravelbourg RCMP detachment with an investigation into Landry’s disappearance, which is considered “suspicious.”

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Moldovan said she and the couple’s 13-year-old daughter are very worried about Claude’s well-being.

“It is extremely unusual and this is not normal in any way for Claude to (disappear). If he goes somewhere he makes contact because he knows that I worry a lot,” she said. “He would never do anything to make me worried.”

Moldovan said RCMP advised her not to discuss any communication she may have had with the couple who picked Landry up since he disappeared.

She said Landry is from Quebec and used to serve with the Royal 22nd Regiment. She said he struggles with post traumatic stress disorder and is receiving treatment, including taking daily medication and seeing a therapist. She said it’s “extremely concerning” that he has not received treatment since he went missing.

Moldovan and Landry had recently purchased an old RV and were planning to travel east next month to meet members of Landry’s family. They hoped to pick up his son from an earlier marriage and introduce him to members of Landry’s family whom he had never met.

“It was very big and very important to Claude and he was very excited,” Moldovan said. “We had a lot of things planned.”

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Moldovan said Landry had some trouble with the law after leaving the army, but turned himself around and has spent the last several years sharing his story with young people who are struggling, in an attempt to help them. She said Landry was not working when he disappeared.

“There was no signs of him being afraid of anything, no signs that he was just going to up and go somewhere, no signs at all,” she said.

Gravelbourg RCMP want anyone with information about Landry to contact them. When he left his home on July 12 he was wearing a blue and red polo shirt, white shorts, a white baseball cap and Sugi running shoes. He can also be identified by the following tattoos: A heart on his chest, “freedom” on his back, “Payton” on his hand, a Tasmanian devil cartoon on his left calf and barbed wire on his upper right arm.

“It’s like he just vanished and I don’t know where he is. Nobody knows where he is. None of his family knows where he is. Everyone just wants him home safe,” Moldovan said.

“I know in my heart that Claude would never just go and not talk to me, not make contact with me, so I feel like something … I am extremely concerned for his well-being. Extremely.”

ahill@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/MsAndreaHill

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