Shraman Mitra
When Justin Rutter stepped out of his house on October 8, 2009, his mother, Jaye Rutter, had no idea he would never return. Justin was last seen talking to a friend, and the 14-year-old claimed he did not want to go back home before disappearing without a trace. Paramount +’s ‘Never Seen Again’ takes viewers through Justin’s disappearance and even follows the investigation into the matter wherein the authorities tried their best to get to the bottom of the incident. Let’s delve into the details and find out where Justin is at present, shall we?
What Happened to Justin Rutter?
Justin Rutter was only 14 years old when he disappeared from Ottawa, Canada. People who knew him described him as a lively and cheerful teenager who loved living life to the fullest and treated everyone with kindness. Like most boys his age, Justin loved hanging out with his friends, although he did share a remarkable bond with his parents. On top of it, even his teachers talked about his lofty aspirations and mentioned that Justin was a pretty promising student. In fact, the 14-year-old was loved by most, and people had no idea why he would not want to return home.
Justin’s mother, Jaye Rutter, did not think much of it when her son stepped out of their Ottawa home on October 8, 2009. It was common for Justin to play outside with his friends, and she believed he would be back home shortly. However, at about 10 pm, a few hours after leaving his home, Justin met one of his friends on Côté Street near St. Laurent Boulevard. The friends even had a proper conversation, and although Justin seemed all right, the 14-year-old claimed he did not want to return home and was planning to stay out all night.
In the meantime, Jaye was worried about her son as he did not return home within the stipulated time. Thus, she called the police and reported that her son was missing before going out to search for him, along with a few volunteers. Law enforcement officials also joined the search soon after; they used several available facilities, including sniffer dogs, but to no avail. Sadly, Justin Rutter was nowhere to be found, and as the hours dragged on, his loved ones began fearing the worst.
Justin Rutter Has Yet to be Found, Search Continues
We are sorry to report that Justin Rutter remains missing to this day, although the police consider the investigation active. On the other hand, Justin’s loved ones still hope for his safe return and refuse to give up on their search. When the police realized that searching blindly for Justin would not yield any result, they had officers canvas the area where he was last seen while detectives went from door to door looking for possible witnesses. Besides, law enforcement officials interviewed several of Justin’s friends, even though most of them claimed they had no idea of his whereabouts.
After a thorough investigation, the police concluded that while Justin was possibly spotted near the Salvation Army men’s shelter on George Street just hours after he was reported missing, people claimed to have seen him near the Ottawa Mission on Waller Street about three days after he disappeared. Interestingly, the police got another update about a week into the investigation when several witnesses claimed they possibly spotted Justin talking to a few friends in Ottawa’s Vanier neighborhood.
Yet, when Justin’s friends were questioned, they denied all involvement in the disappearance and claimed Justin only spoke about his desire to stay away from home. With all lines of inquiry leading to dead ends, the case was in danger of going cold when Jaye Rutter received a video that showed that Justin had gotten into an altercation with an older teenager just hours before his disappearance. Reports claim this teenager and his friends even bragged about stabbing and disposing of Justin’s body, but the police never investigated this in detail. Meanwhile, the police kept receiving numerous leads about Justin’s whereabouts, and it took great effort to examine every single one.
Still, in 2014, detectives announced that a promising bit of information indicated that Justin might be in Vancouver, and there was even a $5000 reward for any news about his whereabouts. However, this also turned out to be a dead end, and with no word on Justin or his condition, his loved ones soon got frustrated with the ongoing investigation. Unfortunately, there has been no update on Justin’s disappearance after 2014, although the Ottawa Police still have a few active officers investigating the case. At the same time, Justin’s loved ones refuse to give up on his safe return and have even asked the public to step forward if they have any information about the disappearance.
