Investigation into N.B. man’s 2021 disappearance remains active: police

It has now been two years since the disappearance of a 76-year-old man from Musquash, near Saint John.

Paul Doughty was last seen at a business near McKay Loop Road and Route 175 in the Pennfield area on Aug. 18, 2021.

Search teams found Doughty’s vehicle abandoned on a trail about 10 kilometres northeast of McKay’s Wild Blueberries nearly two weeks later.

“This is still an open and active investigation, and we continue to seek any information that may help us locate Paul Doughty,” RCMP Sgt. Luc Samson said in a news release on Friday.

“Any new information could be that one thing that helps move the investigation forward.”

Cheryl Beddow, Doughty’s daughter, spoke with us last November after the family offered a $10,000 reward for information that would help locate him.

Beddow said her father’s disappearance has been a “nightmare” for the family as they continue to wonder what happened.

“It’s something that doesn’t leave your head at all during the day. You’re constantly running scenarios over and over wondering what could have happened,” she said.

Beddow said she has been unable to shake the feeling that something bad has happened to Doughty.

“I have felt since the beginning that something isn’t right here. I feel like he ran into some trouble with somebody or some people down that way. I think something criminal has happened and somebody has harmed him,” she said.

“I’m not super confident he’s anywhere around where his car was found. We’ve been up where his car was and spread out enough that I think if he were up there, we would have found some sign of him by now.”

Beddow is pleading with anyone who has information about her father’s disappearance to come forward — even if they think their information is small.

Doughty is described as being 5’7″ tall, weighing about 100 pounds, with short grey hair and brown eyes.

He was last seen wearing a black and white plaid long-sleeved button-up shirt over a black t-shirt, blue jeans and grey sneakers. He also had on a camouflage baseball hat and a black cloth mask.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Grand Bay-Westfield RCMP at 506-757-1020 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.