Photo: Supplied

By Abby Zieverink

Missing 24 years

Family of missing man seeking closure on 24th anniversary of disappearance in Grande Prairie

Nov 24, 2021 | 4:04 PM

November 24 marks the 24th anniversary of the disappearance of Danny Gaulton from Grande Prairie, and his family is hoping to keep his story alive so they can get the closure they have been seeking for nearly a quarter-century.

“Our biggest goal is to keep his name and his story out there because we’re going to keep looking until we do find some resolution,” said Valerie Champion, the youngest sister to Danny.

Champion says Danny left Labrador City in the summer of 1997, to move to Grande Prairie for a job in corrections. She explains her brother, who was 26 at the time of his disappearance, had been living in Grande Prairie for roughly five months prior to the evening of November 24, 1997.

Champion says he was last seen alive at the Park Hotel on the evening of November 24, 1997.

Since the disappearance of Gaulton, Champion says information and leads were few and far between throughout the first number of years. However, she says recently, information has ramped up significantly.

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“We were lucky to cross paths with an investigative service, Whereabouts Unknown, who decided to take Danny’s case on and started to pursue the answers we’ve been looking for, for a long time.”

However, Champion tells EverythingGP they are still looking for any other information that will help get the closure they have been seeking for the past 24 years.

“It’s been a very long time, 24 years, of course, it’s a lifetime for some people and our main goal is we would like to find Danny’s remains,” she said. “When you lose a loved one, of course, it’s very difficult, but when a loved one goes missing, there’s a lack of closure.”

“Just knowing he is out there somewhere. Even though he is no longer alive, it’s not something we can just walk away from and find some kind of peace with, because there is just no peace when it comes to having a family member missing,” added Champion.

She says a $100,000 reward is being offered for finding Danny Gaulton’s remains, as well as a partial reward for the return of his car (a gold 1985 Chrysler LeBaron) that went missing at the same time as his disappearance.

Photo supplied

She asks anyone with information or anyone around the Park Hotel on the evening of November 24, 1997, is asked to contact Whereabouts Unknown, Crime Stoppers, the Grande Prairie RCMP, or the Missing Danny Gaulton Facebook Page.

“We’re always looking for more (information) every little piece of information is valuable in something like this,” Champion added.

Grande Prairie RCMP have confirmed to EverythingGP the investigation into Gaulton’s disappearance is ongoing.