Skip to content

Father makes emotional plea to missing son

When asked if there's any message he'd like to send to his son, who has been missing for three-and-a-half years, Terry Aho pleads with him to come home. “We need you home, bud,” he said.
150513_aho
Robert Aho went missing in October 2009 in the Marten River area. His family thinks he may be currently in the Sudbury area. Supplied photo.
When asked if there's any message he'd like to send to his son, who has been missing for three-and-a-half years, Terry Aho pleads with him to come home.

“We need you home, bud,” he said. “Just call us, go to a police station, talk to anybody on the street that can get you help ... We love you.”

On Oct. 12, 2009, Robert Aho went missing from the family's cottage in the Marten River area, where he had been helping Terry pack up a trailer.

He was last seen heading west on Highway 64, towards the town of Field. The police and the family scoured the area in vain, but only found several items of the man's clothing.

But the Aho family hopes a tip they received May 13 from a man who thinks he rode the bus from Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury with Robert earlier this month will lead them to find him.

Terry and other family members have been searching Sudbury since they received the tip.

So far, about 25 people have said they've seen a man meeting Aho's description, mostly in downtown locations such as the Salvation Army and the Rainbow Centre mall.

“Every time something like this happens, our hopes go right through the roof,” said Terry, who lives in North Bay.

“We hope this is the one that's going to find him. This is the best information we've had in two years. We're really concentrating on this one.”
Robert Aho went missing in October 2009 in the Marten River area. His family thinks he may be currently in the Sudbury area. Supplied photo.

Robert Aho went missing in October 2009 in the Marten River area. His family thinks he may be currently in the Sudbury area. Supplied photo.

He said his son, who would now be 35 years old, suffers from epileptic seizures that can cause him to lose his memory — something he thinks may have played a part in his disappearance.

“That's what we're hoping, that he's in a state of mind where he doesn't really know where he is, but maybe has an idea of where he should be going,” Terry said. “Maybe he's coming back to an area he's familiar with, because we do have family in the Sudbury area.”

The man who thinks he rode the bus with Aho described him as disoriented, mentioning that he was bumping into people and talking strangely.

“He really didn't know where he was or what was going on,” he said.

He realized the man he'd sat next to on the bus might be Aho after he saw a missing person billboard erected by the family in the Mattawa area, Terry said.

“This gentleman saw the billboard, and said 'Oh my God, that's the man I saw on the bus who got off in Sudbury,'” he said.

The physical description the tipster provided also fits Robert's profile. He described him as bald, wearing a yellow jacket and grey track pants.

Robert is roughly 5-7, 160 pounds and stocky, his father told Northern Life. He's also been naturally bald from the age of 16, with just a little bit of hair around his ears, which he shaves.

Since the family received the tip, the New Liskeard detachment of the OPP put out a bulletin for northeastern Ontario, so that every OPP station and every city police service will be on the lookout for him.

Terry said he's grateful to Greater Sudbury Police, who have been assisting the family in their search for their son over the last few days.

“The Sudbury city police are being very, very helpful,” he said. “Every time we bring a tip into them, they're following up on it.”

Terry said the last three-and-a-half years have been extremely difficult for his family.

“You've got to get up in the morning and screw a face on,” he said. “And kind of carry on through the rest of the day.”

Anyone with information on Robert Aho's whereabouts is asked to phone the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or the family at 1-705-471-1019.

Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.




Heidi Ulrichsen

About the Author: Heidi Ulrichsen

Read more