Editor’s note — This story and video have been edited to clarify claims about whether Guy Pyke suffered from dementia.
EVANS MILLS, N.Y. (WWTI) — A family left without answers.
On April 2, 1999, Guy Pyke left his home near Syracuse to visit family in Evans Mills, New York.
Although he arrived at his cousin’s house located on Route 11, he stayed only briefly before he turned right out of the driveway, to head North. From then on, he was never heard from again.
At the time, Pyke was 70 years old. Left without an explanation, his family pleaded with law enforcement to conduct water search missions for years. According to his granddaughter, Jennifer Wood, there were also false claims that Pyke had suffered from dementia.
“My gut feeling has been that he’s in his vehicle in the water,” Pyke’s Grandaughter Jennifer Wood shared. “Ever since my grandmother passed away in 2012, I did make the promise to her that I wouldn’t stop, I wouldn’t give up.”
Jennifer’s family’s fight proved worthy this past spring when she got the call from Adventures With Purpose, a search and recovery dive team that has solved 24 missing person cold cases since 2019. The family had been referred by close friend Jeffrey Bellavigna.
The team traveled to the North Country on September 26 to meet with Pyke’s surviving family members to form a plan, starting their search in Evans Mills with nine stops planned after that.
“We’re looking at every potential body of water between this location and the Canadian border where Guy and his 1989 Chevy Blazer might be,” AWP Founder Jared Leisek said prior to the mission.
To conduct the search, AWP uses advanced technology such as sonar, drones and marine navigation. Crew members are also certified, divers. These services are offered to families free of charge.
“Coming into a cold case, families have been left without answers for years,” Leisek added. “That’s where we step in to think outside of the box. It’s coming back to a vehicle that has been missing with that individual for over twenty years.”
But the true priority is bringing closure to the family members.
“That would be the best scenario,” Pyke’s granddaughter noted. “I could lay him to rest, I could finally fill out that empty hole on the stone in the cemetery. But even if we don’t get that, we’re still getting the, ‘okay he’s not here, okay he’s not here.”
The search for Guy Pyke will continue on September 27. However, those with any information on Guy’s whereabouts are asked to contact law enforcement.