It has now been six weeks since anyone has seen or heard from Eli Wood.
Waterloo Regional Police suspect foul play was involved in the 25-year-old’s disappearance. No new information has been shared about their investigation but, in an unusual move, they put out a plea to the public, from both investigators and Wood’s family, about online speculation in the case.
Wood lived in the back unit of a home on Major Street in Kitchener, Ont. where, on Oct. 19, a fire broke out. Crews extinguished the flames, but there was no sign of Wood.
Police have not said how the fire started, only that it is being treated as an arson investigation.
“Investigators have obtained enough information and enough grounds to determine that there was foul play involved in the disappearance of Eli,” Const. Chris Iden told CTV News on Nov. 4.
He did not say why police believed Wood’s disappearance was suspicious.
“Just to maintain the respect and the integrity of the investigation, we’re unable to really explain or disclose any of that information,” Iden responded.
No further details have been shared since that announcement.
Wood’s friends, family and supporters have continued to press for answers.
At least one group has, independently, announced plans for a ground search on Dec. 7. The event has the support of Spectrum, which represents the local 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Waterloo Regional Police have said they will not be participating in the effort.
On Thursday, police addressed the community’s concerns.
“We want to assure the public that this is a very active and ongoing investigation, and our family liaison officer is in daily contact with Eli’s family to provide updates,” Waterloo Regional Police said in a press release. “When it is appropriate and responsible to do so, additional details and updates will be released publicly.”
Police urged people not to “rely on unverified information circulating on social media, as it may be inaccurate and could hinder the investigation.”
The media release also included a statement from Wood’s family, which echoed that plea.
It said, in its entirety:
On behalf of our family, we want to extend our deepest gratitude to the community for their support during this difficult time.
The time since Eli’s disappearance has been overwhelming for us, but your kindness has brought us strength.
We are especially grateful to those who have respected our privacy and trusted the ongoing police investigation.
We are in frequent contact with the police and want to express our deepest gratitude to all investigative teams who have been working tirelessly since Eli was reported missing.
We kindly ask everyone in the community to please avoid posting, sharing or relying on unverified information on social media.
Inaccurate information and speculation can cause confusion and stress for our family and can interfere with the ongoing police investigation.
We ask that you trust the updates provided directly through police and if you have any information to please share with investigators and not on social media.
Again, we want to thank the community for their endless support.
Please continue to keep Eli in your hearts – your support has been a source of hope during an unimaginable time.
— Eli Wood's family (shared by Waterloo Regional Police)
Wood has been described as approximately 4′10″ tall, weighing between 85 and 95 pounds, with green eyes, eyebrows that are partially white, and tattoos of a flower and seahorse on the left forearm and a rainbow on the right upper arm.
The 25-year-old was also enrolled in the social work program at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.
Anyone with information on Wood’s whereabouts, or the arson investigation, is asked to contact Waterloo Regional Police or Crime Stoppers.
Former police detective weighs in
Mark Mendelson, a former Toronto police homicide detective and CTV News’ crime expert, said he understands why police are not publicly releasing many details at this time.
“You don’t want to taint witnesses’ memories,” Mendelson explains. “You don’t want to influence them by anything that they may be reading on social media or in the media itself, which may skew their recollection or put additional things into their head that are not really factual. So it’s always important to maintain that integrity.”
Mendelson points out that in this case there will be multiple investigations unfolding at the same time: the arson investigation which will be in conjunction with the Ontario Fire Marshal, as well as Wood’s disappearance, which will include trying to piece together events and conversations leading up to Oct. 19.
“Even going through things like his electronic devices may often require production orders from a justice – that takes time. Then the service provider, whether it’s Rogers or Bell or Telus or whoever, has to pull that information. There may be other things involving Google - all these take some time,” Mendelson said.
Mendelson warned that speculation online can create problems for police investigations as they search for what he described as ‘pure version evidence’ that isn’t tainted by other reports.
Mendelson said information on the case should be brought directly to police.
“It’s important to know that if people have information and they think that it’s important, and they shouldn’t weigh the value of the information or how important it is, that it’s incumbent upon them to go to the police who have all the information and can properly weigh the value of that information and the credibility of it. That’s the route to go.”
Community search planned
In the meantime, concerned community members are organizing a ground search on Sunday, Dec. 7.
The group plans to scour a wooded area near the Grand River, off of Riverbend Drive in Kitchener.
Meghan Mathieson is one of the organizers. She has never met Wood, but felt compelled to try to help in some way.
As of Thursday, about 100 people had signed up to participate.
“It’s a large group from KW and also outside of the community who felt like Eli’s situation needed a lot more support,” Mathieson said. “We’ve learned through the family that Eli cared deeply for every community that they’ve been a part of. We want to pour that same amount of care and compassion into our efforts to bring him home.”
Wood’s family lives out of the province and Mathieson said she hopes the community effort will bring them a little bit of hope.
“We’re just hoping to hopefully maybe find some sort of answers and possibly even bring Eli home,” Mathieson said. “We’re not too sure, but something is better than nothing at this point, I believe. And a lot of other people believe that, too.
“And, you know, we might find nothing, which is okay, too. It’s just to show the numbers, to show that Eli has a community standing behind him now. It speaks a lot of volume,” Mathieson said.
Waterloo Regional Police tell CTV News they will not be attending the community search.
