Family of missing teen hires private investigator
Despite 19 days of searching for Quintin Bingley, the family of the missing St. Catharines teenager fear they are no closer to bringing him home.
After meeting with Niagara Regional Police detectives Wednesday for an update on efforts to find his 18-year-old son, Greg Bingley said the news wasn’t encouraging.
“We’re kind of coming to a dead end here,” Greg said. “We don’t have a lot of leads.”
He said there have been reported sightings of Quintin from neighbours of Quintin’s Pearce Avenue home, as well as video surveillance footage “that may or may not be him — it’s too hard to tell.”
“That’s really all we’ve got. We know he was in the general area at 1 or 1:30 in the morning, and that’s it.”
Quintin — he is to graduate from Governor Simcoe Secondary School on June 28 — was last seen Friday, May 25, after friends dropped him off at his home near the intersection of Parnell Road at about 11 p.m.
Despite ongoing efforts of police, as well as friends and family who have been searching for him tirelessly in the weeks since he disappeared, while also reaching out to the community for help, they are no closer to finding the slender 5-foot-7 teenager.
“This is where we’re at now. We’re at our wit’s end at this point,” said Sandra Bingley, Quintin’s grandmother.
“We have no new news about anything. There’s been nothing.”
With nowhere else to turn, she said the family decided to hire a private investigator to join the
search efforts.
She said the investigator will work to establish a timeline of the moments before and after Quintin disappeared, while again interviewing residents in the neighbourhoods where he was last seen.
“It’s another set of hands on the case,” Greg
said.
Meanwhile, the family has set up an account on gofundme.com, asking for help to cover costs associated with the search — including paying the private investigator, additional advertising, as well as out-of-pocket costs the family is incurring “while they put their lives on hold and relentlessly search for their beloved Quintin,” the website says.
“Sadly, if it comes to a funeral, that’s where some of it is going to go as well,” Greg said.
In the three days since the account was established, $5,875 has been donated by 93 people.
Greg said the community support has been “overwhelming.”
People can donate at www.gofundme.com/search-campaignquintin-bingley.
The family continues to appeal to the community for any information, asking people to call Sandra at 905-894-4945, or Greg at 289-921-8331.
Police are asking anyone with information about Quintin to call detectives at 905-688-4111 ext. 4233.