Over 5 months since Raheem White’s disappearance, his mother looks for answers

It’s been over five months since 26-year-old Raheem White mysteriously went missing from the Junction neighbourhood, but his mother has yet to give up hope. As police continue their investigation, Rose White is leaning on a community for answers and support, hoping her son soon comes home.

Speaking with CityNews, Rose says she has hired her own investigative team and is relying on the support of another mother, who has dealt with this very same situation and is now an advocate for families of missing people.

Maureen Trask’s youngest son, Daniel, went missing in 2011. After exhaustive searches led by Trask and her family, his remains were found in 2015 in northern Ontario’s Temagami back country.

Trask’s experiences dealing with police and difficulty accessing resources while her son was missing led her to the advocacy work she does now. It was Rose who reached out to Trask when her son first went missing in late 2021.

White went missing on Dec. 1 from the Osler Street and Pelham Avenue area. Police located his work vehicle shortly after, along with his wallet and personal belongings inside the car. Since then, there have been several spottings of him, even as of last week, but none have been confirmed.

“He went to work as he normally would do, and he went missing from his job. Everything that my son worked for was left behind. And there’s been no real answers. There has been no real footage, nothing of my son since that particular afternoon,” Rose explained.

“I still believe my son is out there. There was a sighting [Wednesday], there was a tip [Wednesday] and it was in the Ossington area at one of the homeless shelters,” said Rose.

Rose said reached out to an investigative team when she realized she wasn’t getting quick enough responses from police when dealing with tips, something she understands has been due to “a lot of sickness and overwhelming situations within the police within the last couple of months.”

“If you [see] Raheem on a Friday, I don’t think he’s going to be at the same spot on a Tuesday when somebody gets a chance to go check. Those are the types of things we’ve had a few incidences of.”

The team, which provides free services to the families of missing people, called “Please Bring Me Home,” has been able to collect a few tips and work with police on sightings.

Rose was also interviewed by Toronto police last week, but no further updates have been made regarding White’s case.

Toronto police tell CityNews their search for White is ongoing, including interviews with his friends and family, ground searches, following up on sightings, worked with other police jurisdictions and many other investigative techniques.

Rose said Trask has been extremely helpful in improving her relationship with the police as well.

Trask explains that communications with families has been a common issue across Canada and other countries when it comes to missing people. “It just doesn’t happen… this has to be a coordinated relationship with the families that they’re serving. They’re there to protect and serve so they’re working on protecting Raheem and finding him as quickly as possible, and they need to make sure that the family is engaged in that process.”

Trask has raised questions about the day White was reported missing, and the timeline surrounding his disappearance.

“It’s very clear that between his first pickup of his shift, and when the vehicle was found, there’s over a five-hour lapse and no proof that he put the truck there so what happened in those five-plus hours?” asks Trask. “That is the piece of the puzzle that I feel will truly answer what transpired. Although every case is unique, in every case, there is individual. Someone, somewhere, knows something and it just takes that someone to step up and do the right thing.”

Rose says Trask has been a shoulder to lean on during this time. “She’s a level-headed person who is not afraid to challenge some of the systems that are sometimes not as transparent as they need to be,” said Rose. “She has been amazing. She has been able to connect me even with other moms that have gone through some of the same challenges as I’m going through and her as a mom who has gone through an ambiguous loss.”

The very same support Trask needed as she searched for her son Daniel, is the same support she’s now helping Rose and other families access. She’s also advocating for legislative change, including making changes to the Missing Persons Act that came into effect in 2019 in Ontario.

“I’m not the person I was before this happened. And I will never be back to that person. Because Daniel has enlightened me to a whole new process and I do this work in honor of him,” said Trask.

Trask said with her advocacy work she has drafted a report that identifies gaps in systems, services, supports and funding for families with missing persons, especially regarding standard missing persons police procedures.

She is pushing for a national missing persons strategy in Canada, which Trask says was sent out to all MP candidates prior to the 2019 election.

Because of her experience, she explains she is more in tune to the struggles Rose is dealing with right now as well. “Rose is in a stage where it’s still very emotional. Many triggers along the way, so every time she learns about a new sighting, that’s a trigger. And to date, none of the sightings have been confirmed to be Raheem. And that’s a very frustrating rollercoaster ride.”

“It’s a situation that’s crazy. So how do we deal with the ups and downs? How do we deal with living with not knowing, living with uncertainty where we can’t grieve? Our grief is frozen and we’re just dealing with so many unknowns,” explained Trask.

Meanwhile, Rose says she will continue to call on the community, his friends, and colleagues to help in the search for Raheem. “There’s a lot of mothers whose hearts are broken, it’s not only Raheem.”

“It may be in my kitchen today, but it can be in your kitchen tomorrow. It’s all of our issue, because like I said, it happened to me today, but it will happen to someone else tomorrow. And it’s heartbreaking. No matter where or what happens.”