Without Frank Gruben, a 'heartbreaking' Christmas for his family
CBC
Laura Kalinek says every day that passes since her son Frank Gruben disappeared, she misses him more.
"It's heartbreaking," she told CBC in an interview earlier this month.
"Not a day goes by that I don't think of my son. And with Christmas… it's tough. But I have to be strong for my family, for myself."
Frank Gruben was last seen on May 6, 2023, in Fort Smith, N.W.T., just two days after his 30th birthday.
A young Inuvialuit Gwich'in man and a proud member of the 2SLGBT (two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, Frank had recently moved to Fort Smith from his home community of Aklavik to upgrade his high school courses at Aurora College.
After he was reported missing, elders from Salt River First Nation began a search for him, and RCMP opened an investigation into his disappearance, but neither turned up any promising leads on what might have happened to him.
In late May, RCMP spokesperson Matt Halstead told CBC that the initial RCMP investigation had not found any evidence of foul play in Frank's disappearance.
Almost eight months later, his family still doesn't have any information about what might have happened to him.
Kalinek remembers Frank as an easygoing, "jolly" person who had lots of friends and loved spending time with them. He loved cooking for his loved ones. He was passionate about the Gwich'in language, and spoke it well.
"He was always happy," Kalinek said.
He was also a really great big brother.
Kalinek said Frank had a special connection with his younger sister Kimberlyn, who is 10 years old and has been diagnosed with autism and Down syndrome. Kalinek called Frank Kimberlyn's "rock" — the one in the family who could always communicate with her.
Adding to the family's pain over Frank's disappearance is the fact he isn't the first person in their family to go missing.
In 1983, when she was 13, Kalinek's father travelled with his sister to Hay River to attend a Dene Nation meeting, and was never seen or heard from again.
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