In July 1978, 13-year-old David Bruce Wiebe of Steinbach was murdered and RCMP in Manitoba are still looking to conclude the investigation.

RCMP Sergeant Bobby Baker, also the head of the Missing and Exploitation Persons (MEP) Unit, says out of the 7,500 persons reported missing in Manitoba each year about one or two turn into long-term historical cases, such as Wiebe's. Sergeant Baker says they currently have 150 long-term historical missing person cases in Manitoba adding they don't just sit around and collect dust.

"We have two retired homicide and cold case officers that are here to help us right now, to go back in time and look at those cases to see if there's something that may still need to be done," notes Sergeant Baker. "That could range from a person who wasn't interviewed to you need to collect DNA from another family member or have another look at trying to obtain dental records from a missing person."

Sergeant Baker says there have been many advances in forensic technology and are hoping to capitalize on those advances.

RCMP says Wiebe's mother last saw her son wearing faded blue jeans, an orange T-shirt with a green number 23 on it, and brown running shows with orange trim. On July 25, 1978 Mrs. Wiebe contacted Steinbach RCMP and the police have been looking for Wiebe ever since.

Sergeant Baker says, "A police investigation commenced into a missing persons investigation with the RCMP almost 39 years ago. That investigation soon shifted to suspected foul play; a suspected homicide invesitgation. It wasn't until a number of years later that an arrest was made with Dale Goertzen, who was in the United States at that point in time."

RCMP notes Goertzen was a friend of Wiebe's and they were known to shoot targets together, but Goertzen denied any knowledge of Wiebe's whereabouts at the time.

"The evidence wasn't there to make the arrest until 1983, that happened in Kansas City," notes Sergeant Baker. "Goertzen spent his sentence in the United States for a little over a decade and was deported to Canada in late 1994, December of 1994."

Sergeant Baker says he was then arrested and in April 1995 he was sentenced for the second degree murder of David Wiebe, and he remains in jail to this date.

He adds a life sentence in Canada is for the remainder of the individual's life, not just 25 years.

"This particular case with David, it's difficult because one would hope that a clue may have come up like maybe his remains, part of his remains, clothing, or something like that. You would have hoped there would have been a sign of something at this period of time, and there hasn't."

RCMP says neither his remains or the bicycle he was riding have ever been found. Sergeant Baker says there are pieces of evidence as to what happened the day of Wiebe's death, but it's hard to corroborate a story at this point due to not having enough information.

“I retired as the head of the homicide unit in 2008, after 37 years in the RCMP,” adds retired Sergeant Bert Clarke. “I felt like I could do more. Investigations stuck with me throughout the years, so I can only imagine how they are affecting the families. I think the work we do in the MEP Unit is very important. We not only work on current missing and exploited person investigations, but we make sure victims of the past are not forgotten. The lessons we learn from the past help us in the present and vice versa.”

Sergeant Baker says it can be an emotionally difficult process for an officer, but more so, it's a difficult process for the families who are reopening wounds throughout the continued investigative process.

"Children are important to our communities and children are important to everyone, obviously," adds Sergeant Baker. "Times have changed and there are a lot of different risks now-a-days. There were risks when David was young and there are risks now. The RCMP would like the public to know that safety of children is of the utmost, the utmost priority."

He says, if a child goes missing, don't hesitate to call the police, even if it hasn't been 24 hours.