Teen took taxi to Giant Tiger, police say

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This article was published 19/06/2025 (288 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While volunteers continue to look for a missing 18-year-old man last seen Sunday morning, the teen’s uncle says “the days are starting to blend together.”

“It feels like kind of a Groundhog Day situation — just, you know, more of the same,” Tyson Tame said Thursday, the fourth day of the search.

Volunteers have been working each day until sunset, searching the city, hanging up posters and looking for any sign of the missing teen.

Owen Bedford went missing at around 1:45 a.m. last Sunday after drinking with friends at Houstons Country Roadhouse at 3130 Victoria Ave.

The Brandon Police Service has now said Bedford did get in a taxi on Sunday morning and was dropped off nearby at Giant Tiger at 2626 Victoria Ave.

Tame said there are “foot patterns” in the area where the taxi dropped him off that are being used as leads, although there isn’t anything else he was able to share.

Tame, who is also the Ward 10 councillor for the City of Brandon, said there’s a lot of reviewing camera footage from security and doorbell cameras, and a lot of communication with volunteers.

“There’s been lots of going through (footage) and sort of sifting through them and trying to find the ones that point to Owen’s whereabouts. So just trying to piece the puzzle together.”

Brandon Police Service also continued to search on Thursday, using “every available resource in our efforts,” including canine teams and drones, Chief Tyler Bates said in a statement.

“We remain fully committed to bringing Owen home and stand with his family during this incredibly difficult time,” Bates said.

Bedford is described as being about 5-foot-7 and slender, with blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing beige and white-coloured Jordan 1 shoes, light-coloured ripped jeans, a grey hoodie with “Las Vegas” on the front, and he didn’t have a hat.

His friends didn’t realize he was missing until later that morning. Family members described him as being the “shyest, most reserved, quiet kid,” and said it’s unlike him to disappear with zero communication.

Bedford’s family is thankful for the community support in the search, said Tame, but urged people to register as volunteers with the family so it can be more co-ordinated.

“We’re very grateful, and we feel the love,” said Tame. “So that’s something that’s, you know, really, really valuable during this time.

“Every face you see, every pair of hands you see come to lend their support, every single one just means the world to all of us.”

He said some people who go out looking on their own could be covering ground that has already been searched. Police have also said some areas are off-limits for volunteers, and Tame said if people helping co-ordinate their search with the family, they can be sure not to go in those areas.

The last thing they want, he said, is for the police to ask volunteers to stop searching because they’re in the way.

Anyone with information is being asked to call BPS at 204-729-2345 or email jbedford908@gmail.com.

» alambert@brandonsun.com