When a family member called Mandeep Bal's cell phone, a street person answered. Bal hasn't been seen snice.
Bal was drinking on Oct. 30, and got into a verbal altercation with a family member. He went out to walk it off, as he had done in the past.
The family became concerned, and his brother-in-law, Gurjeet Hayer, called his cell phone.
The person who answered said he found the phone on the street. He agreed to meet Hayer at the 10200-block of King George Boulevard. He gave Hayer the phone and left.
Bal has now been missing for more than 40 days and his family is making a new plea to the public and offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to his discovery.
Hayer said it is extremely unlike his brother-in-law to leave for this long. Things at home, he said, were very good.
Bal was expected to get married in India shortly, and even had a plane ticket purchased for that purpose.
RCMP Cpl. Drew Grainger said cases like these are particularly puzzling for police and devastating for families.
Bal is described as a 24-year-old South Asian man, 5'11" and 150 pounds, with brown eyes, short black wavy hair and a goatee. He was last seen wearing a black T-shirt with white lines on top, a brown jacket with dark brown square pattern on it, blue track pants and blue sandals with orange straps.
Bal also suffered a work injury, which has given him a very distinctive scar on his right thumb and hand.
Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is asked to call the Surrey RCMP's Missing Persons Unit at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS to remain anonymous.