Eduardo Balaquit.HO/The Canadian Press
Police say an arrest has been made nearly three years after a man disappeared in Winnipeg.
Eduardo Balaquit, 59, was last seen on June 4, 2018, when he was working at a business in the city’s northwest. He was reported missing the next day.
“Eduardo was a hard-working man,” Sgt. Wade McDonald said Thursday.
“He worked at this business for a number of years and had just gone to work and never returned home.”
Saskatoon police arrested 35-year-old Kyle Alexander James Pietz. He was charged with manslaughter and transferred to Winnipeg.
McDonald said Pietz had lived in Winnipeg and was an employee at the same business where Balaquit worked at the time of the disappearance.
McDonald did not provide details on a possible motive or what police believe happened between the two men.
Balaquit’s van had been found with its windows smashed and his belongings inside.
“It was quickly concluded that Eduardo was a victim of a crime,” said McDonald.
Police made several public pleas for information about the man’s disappearance over the years.
There was also an extensive search for his body, which included an area around Arborg, north of Winnipeg. Balaquit’s remains have never been found.
His disappearance shook the city’s tight-knit Filipino community, said McDonald.
“It was very challenging, overwhelming,” he said.
“It was a traumatic event not only for the Filipino community but for the entire city of Winnipeg.”
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