By The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER - Police in Ottawa will be teaming up with the Vancouver Police Department to investigate a tip that a teenage boy who disappeared from the capital city five years ago may be on the West Coast.
Each department held a news conference Wednesday, saying Justin Rutter was 14 when he was last seen by his family near their Ottawa home on Oct. 8, 2009.
They released an artist's drawing of what Rutter would look like now, at age 19.
Supt. Don Sweet of the Ottawa Police Service said the brown-eyed teen had a slim build and short light brown hair when he went missing in 2009.
"There is some indication that there might have been a dispute with family at that time, and there has been no contact since that evening," Sweet said from Ottawa.
The tip about a possible sighting in Vancouver came about two weeks ago and police are still trying to confirm the information.
Foul play may have been involved in the boy's disappearance, Sweet said
"The fact that he literally has vanished without any kind of trace, that's very concerning, and that he may not be alive now, whether it's misadventure or something else."
Sweet said someone knows where Rutter is or what happened to him and police need the public's help to solve the mystery.
"The most insignificant tip could help us," he said.
Ottawa Police are offering a reward of $5,000 for information confirming the teen's whereabouts or leading to the arrest and prosecution of whoever is responsible for his disappearance.