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This article was published 21/12/2019 (280 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Family, friends and residents of the Woodhaven neighbourhood searched for Spencer Brason, a 33-year-old father of three young children, who vanished Friday night after going out to play hockey with neighbours at a nearby community club.

'I need to know that he's okay. His kids want to see him' ‐ Jessica Brason, on the disappearance of her husband, Spencer

He was found safe around 3 a.m. Sunday, his sister announced on facebook.

Winnipeg police had asked the public to check any outbuildings where he may have sought refuge, and to contact investigators with any information about Brason’s disappearance.

At first, the night he went missing was a "really nice evening," his wife, Jessica, said. The couple took their kids to a family event at Woodhaven Park Community Club, a short walk from their home. They returned, put the kids to bed and watched a movie, when Spencer got a text inviting him to play hockey at the club’s outdoor rink.

Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press Jessica Brason woke up Saturday to find her husband Spencer hadn’t come after having left to play hockey.

He grabbed his skates and stick, and headed out for the short walk to the rink at about 9:15 p.m. On the way, he stopped to chat with his next-door neighbour. That was the last time he is confirmed to have been seen; nobody saw him at the rink, and he has not been heard from since.

Searchers later found his skates and his stick tucked behind a tree, close to a walking path in the nearby woods. Footprints in the snow led north towards Portage Avenue.

The disappearance was out of character for Spencer, his wife said. He had been acting "totally normal" on Friday night, and had been looking forward to Christmas and wrapping gifts for their three young children, who are aged four, three, and one-and-a-half.

When Jessica woke up Saturday morning and realized her husband hadn’t come home, she began to contact neighbours to see if they had any information. Nobody did. Within hours, the community had rallied to begin an urgent search for Spencer, with groups convening at the community club by 7:30 a.m.

By mid-afternoon, nearly 50 people had gathered to search, along with a unit from the Winnipeg Search and Rescue volunteer team. The search path took them along Sturgeon Creek north of Portage Avenue, as well as other places that Spencer may have been able to reach.

"We need him home," Jessica said. "I need to know that he’s OK. His kids want to see him. No matter what’s going on, I need him. I can’t imagine going through Christmas without him."

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca