01/17/08: Bradley Worobeck, 27, Calgary, Alberta, Canada



Brad Worobeck - Missing since 1/17/08
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Bradley Worobeck is missing.

Between 11 and 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 17, 2008, Calgary resident and bartender Bradley Worobeck, 27, finished his night shift at the Palomino Smokehouse at 109 7 Ave. S.W. in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. A half hour later, he called his mother, Sandy, from the King Henry VIII Pub just two blocks away (at 221 8 Ave. S.W.) to say he was heading home to sleep. Brad usually traveled by Calgary Transit. Friends say he had lost his wallet a week earlier, so he borrowed $20 and was planning to take the C-Train to his Deer Run home. He never showed up.

If you have any information about this case, call Calgary Police Service 403-266-1234.


The Search for Brad Worobeck

When Brad Worobeck didn't return to home or work, family and friends were immediately concerned because the disappearance was out of character for the happy-go-lucky bartender. The area where Brad worked was also known to be a little rough, and at the time of the disappearance, Calgary was experiencing frigid tempertatures. Yet, it took 11 days before police started an investigation, Sandy Worobeck told the media.

Const. Scott Guterson, one of the investigators now on the case, said he can't comment on what happened before he was assigned the case. However, he did acknowledge to the Calgary Sun, "We have a tremendous number of people reported missing in the city every month, and in the vast majority of those cases, the person turns up safe and sound, with a completely mundane reason that they haven't been in contact with friends and family," he said.

The Sun reported that Calgary police are used to dealing with 20 to 30 missing person files a day (1,800 in the past four months).

“They aren’t doing anything unless they get a call because they are so busy,” Sandy Worobeck told Metro Calgary.

“In Calgary, there’s no missing persons unit like there is in Edmonton. There’s only one person, and when it first happened I’d be calling (the detective) and three days later he would get back to me.”

Once Brad's case was investigated, it became clear that his disappearance was an exception to the rule. Investigators found "no evidence that Brad was unstable, unpredictable or involved in drugs, all common factors when people go missing," according to the Sun.

Police were able to determine that Brad was alone when he left both his work and when he left the pub.

According to the Sun, the bar where Brad worked was an "oasis on 7 Ave., a block better known for crack deals and dirty pawn shops." In fact, "police have investigated reports that Brad broke up a fight between a patron and two crack-heads outside the Palomino hours before leaving work that night, but there's nothing to suggest the scrap may be connected to his disappearance."


Fish Creek Park, c. 2005
Photo Credit: Chuck Szmurlo

Brad normally walked through or near Fish Creek Provincial Park on his way home, and then he took the C-train home. Video security tapes were checked and  Brad never boarded the train. Police did see a man on the tapes that looked like Brad at the Canyon Meadows LRT station. However, this was not not definite sighting, nor was it very helpful; when the man in the video leaves the station, it is not possible to tell what direction he is headed.

Yet, based in part on the video, Brad's known destination and habits, police did an extensive search of the large park, concentrating on the more remote areas. Guterson explained to the Sun that because the winter was mild and many of the pathways were fairly well used, it is likely that Brad would be spotted in those areas, if he were there, so searchers concentrated on areas that don't normally see heavy traffic.

Since Brad's disappearance, police have "done extensive investigations into banking, hospitals, the medical examiner's office, the U.S. border, just to name a few," Guterson told CBS News. "And at this point, we've found absolutely no information whatsoever to indicate where Brad may be."

"We put in several hundred man hours on this case,” said Const. Scott Guterson to Metro Calgary. “We are essentially at the same spot where we were at the beginning of the investigation.”

According to the paper, Sandy Worobeck plans to speak to Police Chief Rick Hanson and appeal to him to consider a missing persons unit for the city of Calgary. While there is a missing persons coordinator, his job is to direct different units in their investigation. The major crime unit and a general investigative unit worked on Brad's case, not a missing person's unit.

Case Details 

Name/age: Bradley Worobeck, 28, Calgary
Last seen: 01/17/08, 11:30 p.m., Palomino Smokehouse (109 7 Ave. S.W.) and King Henry VIII Pub just two blocks away (at 221 8 Ave. S.W.)
Physical Description: 6'1," 180 pounds, slim build, short, spiky brown hair and brown eyes, clean shaven, no tattoos, piercings or glasses.
Last seen wearing: black sneakers and a three-quarter length black pea coat.
Investigating Agency: Calgary Police Service 403-266-1234
Links: http://www.nampn.org/cases/worobeck_bradley.html


Sources

Hilliker, Jennifer. (2009, January 16). Few clues as anniversary arrives. Metro Calgary. Retrieved May 15, 2012 from http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightCanada/ar/t3310.htm

Platt, Michael (2008, February 13). Calgary Sun. Retrieved May 15, 2012 from
http://www.unsolvedcanada.ca/index.php?topic=1701.0

Staff Writer. (2008, February 12). Family, police search for missing Calgary bartender. CBS News. Retrieved May 15, 2012 from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2008/02/12/worobeck-missing.html