Delta son still waiting for his missing dad in Surrey RCMP case

SURREY — A Delta boy continues to wait for his dad who’s been missing for over a year now.

The Surrey RCMP’s Missing Persons Unit is once again appealing for help in finding Vaclav “Walter” Simek, 53, who was reported missing on April 10, 2013.

Maria Gonzalez, his ex-wife, believes his disappearance was planned, and possibly brought on by depression or another mental illness.

The couple divorced after 13 years of marriage. They have a 13-year-old son.

Gonzalez, who lives in Delta, described Simek as a “good dad” who saw their son every weekend.

“Suddenly he stopped returning calls and coming to pick him up,” she said.

“My son waits for his dad every single day.”

Gonzalez said Simek, an avid camper, had been living in an RV park in White Rock before he vanished.

“It’s quite very strange,” she said of the case. “We have no clue whatsoever.”

Simek’s visa account and bank account have not been touched, she said.

Simek was last seen on March 7, 2013. Police believe someone dropped him off near 200^th Street and 40^th Avenue in Langley.

Surrey RCMP Cpl. Bert Paquet said the investigation has thus far revealed that Simek rented a car in late February/early March and used it to move some of his belongings to an unknown place and the car was returned on March 7.

“Since then there has been no banking activity or cell phone use on any of Simek’s accounts,” Paquet said. “There is no evidence of foul play, nor is there any evidence to suggest he has left the country.”

Simek is six feet three inches tall, was 210 pounds and has blue eyes and had brown hair. Besides his disappearance, he is not known to police and “it appears he does not have a wide network of friends,” Paquet said. He had a Springer Spaniel named Tucker and was a restoration mason my trade.

“Numerous interviews have been done with friends, families and associates, along with checks with government and financial institutions across the entire country and abroad, all to no avail,” Paquet noted.

Police ask anyone with information that could help them find Simek to contact the Surrey RCMP’s Missing Person’s Unit at 604-599-0502, quoting file number 2013-43817.

tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com