

Chris Kitching, CP24.com





Dozens of police officers and specially trained volunteers are scouring Whitby and residents are being asked to check their properties to find a high school teacher who has been missing for more than 24 hours.

Police say 52-year-old Jeffrey Boucher was reported missing Monday morning after he departed for what his family believes was his usual morning run and failed to return home.

No one saw him leave and he was last seen when he went to bed Sunday night, said Durham Regional Police spokeswoman Sgt. Nancy van Rooy.

Van Rooy said police have no reason to suspect foul play in the man's disappearance and they believe he left the family's home to go for a run, although they are investigating all possibilities.

"We have not had many leads. Those we’ve had to date we’ve followed up on," she told reporters at a news conference.

Boucher's family immediately grew concerned because he failed to return home at his usual time of about 7 a.m. and his car and cellphone were still at home. He did not show up for work at Bowmanville High School on Monday or Tuesday.

“It was weird that he wasn’t home by his regular time … He still wasn’t even home by the time I woke up,” said Boucher’s 17-year-old daughter Bettina. “By eight o’clock we were freaking out.”

The father of two is an experienced runner who normally goes for a run every morning at about 6 a.m. and returns home within the hour after covering 10 to 15 kilometres, police said.

Van Rooy said officers are searching within a 10- to 15-kilometre radius of Boucher's home.

One of the complications is the fact that police do not know the route Boucher was taking. He does not always stick to the same route.

On Monday morning, it was dark at the time he normally departs and roads and sidewalks were icy. Police fear he may have slipped and injured himself.

Investigators are asking people in Whitby to check their properties for Boucher.

Police have set up a command post a block away from Boucher's home, near Highway 12 and Taunton Road, to co-ordinate the search for the business and geography teacher.

Van Rooy said the search was "upped" Tuesday with additional resources, including all-terrain vehicles, auxiliary officers and the police service's public order unit.

Aerial searches were conducted by a police helicopter equipped with infrared technology that detects heat and canine units were brought in to assist with the ground search.

Members of the Ontario Volunteer Emergency Response Team (OVERT), a search and rescue unit with specialized training and equipment, rejoined the search effort Tuesday morning as officers concentrated on the Heber Down Conservation Area, a place where Boucher is known to run. He is also known to run south to Lake Ontario.

Boucher is white, six feet tall and 180 pounds with short hair that is grey and white. Police are unable to describe the clothing that he was wearing because no one saw him leave his home.

Van Rooy said police are hoping he was wearing enough layers of clothing to survive the cold.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 1-888-579-1520 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

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