On New Year's Eve 2020, 20-year-old Zack Lefave attended a party in Plymouth, a 15-minute drive from the larger town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Just before midnight struck, Zack inexplicably left the party alone and decided to walk back to Yarmouth. During his walk home, Zack made several phone calls to friends saying he was in another town that was over five hours in the opposite direction of his intended destination.
A few eye witnesses see him walking alongside the highway with his pants off in the middle of that cold Nova Scotia night. His pants and several belongings were later found on the side of the road by investigators- but Zack nor his cell phone were ever recovered. Rumors have run rampant about what could have happened to Zack- did he fall off the road and later died from the elements? Was he met with foul play? Small clues and hints about his fate have come to the surface but to this day, the mystery of what happened to Zack that night still remains.
Anyone with information about this case are asked to call the Southwest Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit at 902-365-3120, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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EPISODE RESOURCES:
"Police continue to investigate disappearance of Zachery LeFave two years later" (CTV News Atlantic):
https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/police-continue-to-investigate-disappearance-of-zachery-lefave-two-years-later-1.6212936
"The Disappearance of of Zack Lefave in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia- Missing since Jan. 2021" (missingpeople.ca):
https://missingpeople.ca/the-disappearance-of-zack-lefave-in-yarmouth-nova-scotia-missing-since-jan-2021/
"A year of heartbreak and hell for family and friends of Zack Lefave since he went missing" (SaltWire):
https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/a-year-of-heartbreak-and-hell-for-family-and-friends-of-zack-lefave-since-he-went-missing-100675646/
"He left a New Year's Eve party in 2020. He hasn't been seen in 2021" (City News):
https://halifax.citynews.ca/following-up/he-left-a-new-years-eve-party-in-2020-he-hasnt-been-seen-in-2021-4904037
On New Year's Eve 2020, 20-year-old Zack Lefave attended a party in Plymouth, a 15-minute drive from the larger town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Just before midnight struck, Zack inexplicably left the party alone and decided to walk back to Yarmouth. During his walk home, Zack made several phone calls to friends saying he was in another town that was over five hours in the opposite direction of his intended destination.
A few eye witnesses see him walking alongside the highway with his pants off in the middle of that cold Nova Scotia night. His pants and several belongings were later found on the side of the road by investigators- but Zack nor his cell phone were ever recovered. Rumors have run rampant about what could have happened to Zack- did he fall off the road and later died from the elements? Was he met with foul play? Small clues and hints about his fate have come to the surface but to this day, the mystery of what happened to Zack that night still remains.
Anyone with information about this case are asked to call the Southwest Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit at 902-365-3120, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Instagram: @crimefamilypodcast
Twitter: @crimefamilypod1
Facebook: Crime Family Podcast
Email: crimefamilypodcast@gmail.com
Become a patron here:
https://www.patreon.com/Crimefamilypodcast
Get your Crime Family Merch here: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/123775076
EPISODE RESOURCES:
"Police continue to investigate disappearance of Zachery LeFave two years later" (CTV News Atlantic):
https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/police-continue-to-investigate-disappearance-of-zachery-lefave-two-years-later-1.6212936
"The Disappearance of of Zack Lefave in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia- Missing since Jan. 2021" (missingpeople.ca):
https://missingpeople.ca/the-disappearance-of-zack-lefave-in-yarmouth-nova-scotia-missing-since-jan-2021/
"A year of heartbreak and hell for family and friends of Zack Lefave since he went missing" (SaltWire):
https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/a-year-of-heartbreak-and-hell-for-family-and-friends-of-zack-lefave-since-he-went-missing-100675646/
"He left a New Year's Eve party in 2020. He hasn't been seen in 2021" (City News):
https://halifax.citynews.ca/following-up/he-left-a-new-years-eve-party-in-2020-he-hasnt-been-seen-in-2021-4904037
Stephanie: Coming up on this episode of Crime Family.
It's the disappearance of Zack LeFevre.
Like I said, it's a pretty small town, so when someone goes missing or something really significant happens in that town, it doesn't take long for people to notice or to start rumors.
AJ: Well, his belongings could have been thrown there later if someone did hit him, you know, and trying to cover it up. They took his body, they threw his belonging somewhere random.
Katie: Also, do they know where his cellphone, the last time it pinged off a tower? Do they know that location?
Stephanie: Some people are rumored to say that his disappearance could be linked to another case that happened back in September of 2020, in the same area. This was the case of a boy named Colton who was murdered.
Katie: Yeah, to me it wouldn't be too far off to think that someone did pick him up, something happened, they hurt him.
AJ: Hi everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Crime Family. I'm your co-host, AJ, and I'm here with my sisters, Stephanie and Katie, just like always. This week Steph is gonna be telling us about a case that she has been researching and wants to share with us on the show. So, Steph, take it away.
Stephanie: So today I'm gonna be doing a case that's close to home. It's a case that happened in Yarmouth Nova Scotia. It's a four hour drive from here, from Halifax to Yarmouth. This case happened about two years ago on December 31st, 2020 / 2021, happened on New Year's Eve. Just a case that I've been looking into, looking for updates cuz it's just such a weird case and it is unsolved still today, after two years. I'm gonna assume that you guys probably never heard of it cuz it's not really in the media as much cuz it is from a small town here in Nova Scotia, so it hasn't really got a whole lot of media attention. I'm just gonna assume you've never heard of it. It's the disappearance of Zack LeFevre.
AJ: No, never heard of this.
Katie: No, I don't think I have.
Stephanie: I'm just gonna get right into it. Zack was your typical 20 year old boy. He had a job at a local food store called the Dayton Red and White, which was located in Yarmouth, where Zack lived. According to his friends and family, Zack had a great relationship with everyone he worked with, and he got along with everyone he worked with as well. He was just a really good person, down to earth person. Zack also enjoyed playing video games and biking, and he loved being outdoors, but he was also a very shy person and he liked to keep to himself as well. He did like going out with his friends to hang out and socialize, but he would never really stay long at parties when he would go out, he would just go for a few hours and then come back home. Zack lived in the Yarmouth area, in a small town called Hebron, which is five minutes outside of Yarmouth. It only has a small amount of people. It's part of Yarmouth County. Like I said, it's a pretty small town so when someone goes missing or something really significant happens in that town, it doesn't take long for people to notice or to start rumors, as we all know cuz we lived in a small town, how rumors can spread and how quickly news spreads. I'm shocked that this case hasn't got a a lot more attention. There's not a whole lot of media around this case. One of Zack's closest relatives named Kimberly Morton, who is Zack's cousin and who's also the spokesperson for his disappearance, she remembers the night that Zack disappeared on December 31st, 2020 because it was out of character for him not to show up back home. It was just such a shock to his family. On that day, New Year's Eve, Zack spent the day four wheeling with his friends till about 4:00 PM that afternoon. Then about around 6:00 PM that evening, he decided to go to the Grand Hotel where a few of his friends had a room there and they started drinking, and just having a good time. After a few hours, they all decided to take a 15 minute cab ride to a party in Plymouth, which is just 15 minutes outside of Yarmouth. They arrived there at around 11:29 and there was only about 20 or so people at this party. According to some of party goers, Zack didn't really know anyone at this party, but he was invited by one of the girls he was with who knew a mutual friend that was at this party. He just went along cuz the friends that he was with in the cab, they were going to the party too, but other people he didn't know. This was out of character for Zack because he normally never would go to parties where he didn't really know anybody. He was with this girl and the friends from the hotel, so he decided that it would be okay to go to this party. A few of the witnesses who were at this party say that Zack was drunk, but an outgoing drunk, not a passed out, belligerent, annoying drunk. They said he seemed like he was having a good time. Other witnesses say that there was alcohol and marijuana that was being consumed that night. Other drugs were being used that night, which I don't even know why that's even significant in the case, but I'm not really sure why they have to mention that. Some of the people say that Zack left the party at around 11:49, which was only 20 minutes after he arrived. So if you remember, he arrived at the party at 11:29 and he leaves the party at 11:49. This is also strange because he left before 12:00 AM on New Year's Eve, so he didn't even stay to ring in the new year with his friends. We know Zack, he probably felt uncomfortable cuz he didn't really know anybody there. He was drunk, so he probably just wanted to head back home. He left the party at 11:49. He left on foot, so he didn't call a cab. He didn't ask for a ride. He started walking and he said he was gonna walk home, which was in Yarmouth, which was about a two hour walk from where he was. There's lots of highways and it's cold and it's pitch black, so not really sure why he didn't ask for a ride or call a taxi, or why no one really questioned why he was leaving or asked to walk with him. He just got up and left. There's no explanation as to why he left or why he left on foot and didn't call for a cab.
AJ: But do we know that he actually did that though? I mean, obviously this information must have come from someone who told the police. "Oh, he said he was gonna leave." Do we know that this is actually what happened.
Stephanie: Yes. One of the witnesses at the party say that Zack had left and he said he was going to walk home. He was never seen on his phone leaving the house calling a cab. No one saw him call a cab.
Katie: Did they see him walking down the street going home?
Stephanie: They saw him leave the house. They didn't actually see him walking. I'll get into more details later, but people at the house did not see him walking along the street. They just saw him leave the house, say he was gonna walk home. Like I said, he was pretty drunk when he left the party, so to me, he probably wasn't really thinking straight when he left the house. He just said, "Oh, I'm just gonna walk." When he showed up to the party, he was drunk too, so maybe he didn't really realize how far away from home he was. I still think if someone I knew was drunk and they say they were gonna walk home and I knew where I was, I feel like I would offer to call him a cab or make sure they got home safe instead of him leaving the house and just not caring or knowing where he is gonna be. So according to Zack's Facebook account, and I didn't know this until I did this research, that you can actually call people from Facebook Messenger. Actually be on the phone and call people. I didn't know that was a thing. Did you?
AJ: Well, it would be through Facebook Messenger, wouldn't it?
Stephanie: Yeah. You can call people, like a phone call through Facebook Messenger, which I didn't know.
AJ: Oh yeah, I think I did know that. Wouldn't that just be the same thing without the video?
Stephanie: I guess, but I didn't know.
AJ: Does it go through Facebook? Does it have to use wifi or data or do you mean it actually uses the phone?
Stephanie: He uses the phone. It says, according to Zack's Facebook account, he makes his first phone call at 11:49 through facebook.
AJ: No, I think that is just Facebook. Instead of a video call, it's just an audio call, which I think you still would go through Facebook. You still need internet for that.
Stephanie: Well, you probably need data. You probably wouldn't need wifi. I would feel.
AJ: Yeah, data or wifi. Yeah.
Stephanie: Yeah.
AJ: But I guess it would be the same thing as Facebook, just a video call just without the video. Right?
Katie: Yeah.
AJ: This is a separate feature I'm unaware of.
Stephanie: Yeah, I guess. I didn't know you could make phone calls through Facebook Messenger. So according to Zack's Facebook account, he did make his first phone call at 11:49 through Facebook Messenger and he said that he was in Quinan, which is about a five hour walk from where he actually was. I didn't know where this place was until I looked it up, and it's outside of Yarmouth County going the opposite direction. So it's about a five hour walk. Where he was in Plymouth is a two hour walk from there to Yarmouth but when he's talking on the phone to this person, he's saying he's in this other place and it's at least a five hour walk from where he was. He left the house at 11:49, so he obviously was disoriented when he left the house, not knowing exactly where he was. He didn't know he was in Plymouth according to this phone call. He thought he was in Quinan.
AJ: Unless he was lying.
Stephanie: Yeah.
AJ: For some reason, I don't know why you would lie to the person on the phone.
Stephanie: So yeah, like I said, he seems like he's just disoriented and doesn't really know where he is. During that call he's joking and making jokes. He also says that he's not wearing any pants. He took off his pants for some reason but he didn't seem too bothered by that, or he didn't seem distressed. He didn't really seem worried that he was lost. He was joking around and laughing on the phone. The temperature that night was 3 degrees Celsius, which is not that cold, but it's also not that warm either. For him not to have pants on, you think you'd be a little bit cold?
AJ: Yeah. For Canadians, for New Year's Eve, 3 degrees is good, but if you're from somewhere warm, 3 degrees Celsius seems very cold.
Stephanie: Yeah.
Katie: Yeah. I was gonna say that if he was suffering from hypothermia, you know, people die of hypothermia and they're always found without their clothes, cuz you get this warm sensation. I'm not sure how coherent or if he'd be making jokes at that point, if he was suffering from hypothermia enough to have his pants off. So yeah, it seems strange.
Stephanie: There's some theories out there, when I was doing this case that they thought maybe he'd spilled something on his pants while he was at the party and it was bothering him so he took his pants off or like he peed himself cuz he thought he had his pants down when he was going pee. Things like that. Why? Trying to figure out why he would've taken his pants off or he was hot cuz you know when you drink a lot, you, like Katie said, alcohol makes you feel like you're warmer than you are. Maybe he was hot and he wanted to take his pants off. Anyways there could be a number of things. He was joking around on the phone saying he wasn't wearing any pants. Like I said, he didn't seem bothered by it. Then at 11:54 the phone call ended and then he makes another one at 11:54, and he says he's cold and he still thinks he's in Quinan. They never really say who's on the other line. The person again says that he didn't seem distressed. He didn't seem like he was worried. He wasn't slurring his words or anything, so they thought he was okay, but he still thought he was in Quinan. Then that phone call ends at 11:58. Then at 12 midnight a first eyewitness says that they saw him walking towards Newell Road entrance, which is Highway 334 . He's not walking towards Yarmouth, he's walking the opposite way towards Wedgeport, which is in the opposite direction of Yarmouth. Zack makes another phone call, and this time he says he's walking with two people of color and that he didn't know them. Then the phone cuts off and it goes dead. So at this point, they don't know who these people are. Witnesses say that the people at the party were all white people and that there was nobody at the party that seemed fishy or seemed sketchy or anything. They don't really know who he was walking with or who these people were because the witnesses in the car said he was walking alone. I don't know if he thought he was walking with somebody, or maybe there was people walking behind him and he thought that he was walking with them. There's still so much unclear information, but according to that 12:02 phone call, that's what Zack was saying, he was walking with these two people, but other witnesses say, who drove by said he was walking alone. So there's conflicting...
AJ: Wait, so did he take drugs or something. I'm assuming he was probably drinking at the party.
Stephanie: He was drinking at the party and there was also marijuana at the party. Sometimes marijuana can also make you paranoid. Maybe the two mixed together, maybe he was having some type of episode. People were adamant when I was doing the research, it kept coming up, there was only alcohol and marijuana at the party. I mean, they're probably not gonna say, "Oh, there were other illicit drugs at this party," but for all we know...
AJ: Yeah. They're not gonna say, "Oh, we dropped some acid."
Stephanie: Yeah.
AJ: I don't know. Yeah.
Stephanie: So all they know is that there was only alcohol and marijuana at the party.
AJ: It sounds like he's hallucinating and all of this stuff isn't actually happening. He's taking off his pants. It sounds like he's under the influence of something and I don't think weed is strong enough to make you do that.
Stephanie: I mean, it could've been laced with something too, right? There's always that.
AJ: Yeah, true.
Stephanie: The police never did find anything when they were doing their searches. They searched the house too where he was at the party and they never found anything but marijuana and alcohol. But you never know. I mean, he could have left with drugs on him who knows? Maybe that's why he left early. I don't know, there's no information out there of why he left the party that early, before midnight. Why go to a New Year's Eve party and leave before New Year's? At around 12:07 he makes his last phone call. Nobody picks up the phone. Whoever he's calling, nobody picks up the phone. At about 12:15, a driver says he saw him walking with the traffic towards Yarmouth, so he seemed, at some point, like he realized, "Oh, I'm going the wrong way." Turned around and started walking back. The witnesses at this time did say that he didn't have any pants on. I don't know why they wouldn't stop and ask if he needs a ride home, if they saw somebody with no pants on in the middle of the night, like why would you...
AJ: Yeah, that seems weird and 3 degree weather, the least you could do, maybe someone did, but no one ever came forward and said that they did that. It seems weird that nobody would stop and say anything, but, I mean, how many people are on this road after 12 o'clock?
Stephanie: It's a very desolate road. I know where the area is and it's very dark at night, but still if I saw somebody walking like that, maybe I would stop and ask if they needed a ride or if they needed help. But then again maybe he looked too drunk and they didn't wanna have him in their car. Or people don't just pick up strangers randomly. But anyways, so nobody, thought it was odd that he was walking by himself with no pants on in the middle of the night and nobody thought to pick him up. Like I said, he was walking towards Yarmouth this time when the witness saw him.
AJ: I mean, unless someone did pick him up and that person did something.
Stephanie: Maybe, because at around 12:45, the first driver who saw him walking in the wrong direction said that he went back, did a loop, and they didn't see him anymore walking. So from the time that the first witness saw him at 12:25 to the second time the first witness saw him at 12:45, which was a 20 minute period, Zack was gone and nobody saw him walking anymore on that road. That's a little bit sketched. Maybe, I know that's a windy road. I know the highway, it's a windy road and it was pitch black outside and it was winter, so maybe he fell over the edge into the ditch.
AJ: But somebody would still see him in the ditch if that happened.
Stephanie: Yeah, that's true. I'll get into more of the searches of what the police did in a little bit. So Zack was reported missing two hours after he left the party. His parents thought right away it could have been a hit and run where he was walking on the highway at night, pitch black. Somebody could have hit him and then just ran away, a hit and run. So they started searching that area for him at around 4:00 AM but they found nothing. On January 2nd, the day after Zack went missing, the RCMP did an extensive search on the ground and in the water around the area that people say they saw him, but there was no sign of Zack. During the searches, the RCMP did find some of Zack's belongings. They found his hat, his pants, his wallet, and cigarettes, on Flint Road, which is a road just outside of Yarmouth. They found all of these items just on the road the same day that they were searching the water. After days of searching for Zack with no possible leads, the search was suspended, but the family never stopped looking for him. So they found evidence that he was walking on that road, but they never found his actual body. I'm not sure what waters they would've searched, cuz I am not really familiar with that area. If he fell into the water, he could have been washed away. Which is one of the theories that came up in this case.
AJ: Yeah, but what water was it? The ocean I guess. It must have been? Or a river.
Stephanie: Yeah. I don't know.
AJ: Yarmouth is on the coast, right?
Stephanie: It is on the coast, yeah. So there could have been...
AJ: But he wasn't in Yarmouth, right? He was a little bit away...
Stephanie: He was outside of Yarmouth? Yeah. The party was 15 minutes away from Yarmouth in Plymouth, which has a lot of water around it, I think.
AJ: I've never heard of it. Which is weird. We all lived in such a small place in Nova Scotia that you'd think you would know places, so it's weird when you hear of a place in Nova Scotia you've never heard of.
Stephanie: Well, I never heard of Quinan, which is just outside of Yarmouth. I had to look it up to see where it was. It only has 320 people in it, but it's a five hour walk from Yarmouth. So highly unlikely that he was there in that little town. He was in Plymouth because his friends who he took the taxi with, that's where they went, was Plymouth , where the house party was. He must have just thought he was somewhere else. You think cuz he was from that area, he would know where he was, but I guess if you're drunk and high on marijuana you can be disoriented, I guess.
Katie: So where exactly is Plymouth? Because the one I'm looking at here is right outside Stellarton in Pictou County.
Stephanie: Yeah, so I should have mentioned this before. There are two Plymouth's. One is in Yarmouth County and one is in Pictou County. I didn't know there was one in Pictou County, where I'm from. I only knew the one in Yarmouth County, which is really funny. Yes, there's two, so if you're looking up this information on this case, it's a Plymouth in Yarmouth County, not the one in Pictou County. For viewers, just to clarify that. So after days of searching the area where his belongings were found, they did not find any signs of Zack and there was no possible leads. So at that time, the search was suspended, but the family never stopped looking for him. They all continued to search for him then and until this day. There are a lot of theories out there that came up in this case about what could possibly have happened to him. You know, it's a small town. He was at a party. People talk. We're from small towns and we know how rumors get started. One of the theories that came up was a possible hit and run, but that was quickly ruled out because there was no blood at the scene where his belongings were. There was no evidence of a hit and run, like skid marks.
AJ: Well, his belongings could have been thrown there later if someone did hit him, you know, and trying to cover it up. They took his body, they threw his belonging somewhere random. Were his belongings where he was last known to be, or just somewhere random?
Stephanie: They were on Flint Road. Flint Road is just a few kms up from where the witness saw him walking. That's where they found his belongings. Maybe he was hit further up and his belongings were there. I'm just curious as to why his wallet, probably was in his pants, now that I'm thinking of it. But to me, if you're a smoker, you're not gonna leave your cigarettes behind. You know what I mean? I mean, if you're drunk, you drop things, that's a thing, but I feel like if you're a smoker you're not gonna leave their cigarettes behind. But maybe they were in his pocket of his pants. His hat was there, his wallet, his pants and his cigarettes were all found in that one area.
Katie: Could they tell if anything was taken out of his wallet, like money stolen or anything?
Stephanie: They never did mention that in any of the research that I did. I don't know if anything was taken.
AJ: I don't really understand though, why people would just let him leave the party, saying he's gonna walk on foot, knowing it's a couple hours from where he is. Why would somebody be like, "Oh, okay, just walk two hours." I mean, I guess if it's a big party, people aren't really paying attention.
Katie: Well, they didn't really know him either. Right? So maybe they just didn't really care. Did they know where he lived and did he say where he was going? Or did he just say he was gonna walk home? Maybe they didn't even know where he was going.
Stephanie: According to the people that were at the party, they just said he left and he said he was gonna walk home. But what I don't understand is that the people he went to the hotel with before the party were at this party too, and why they didn't say, "Oh no, we will walk together or get a cab together." Or the girl that he was with, why she didn't say anything or do anything when he left the party. But I mean, I guess they were all drinking and there was more people there and maybe nobody really paid attention. Do you know what I mean? You know, sometimes you leave a party and there's a lot of noise. You say, "Oh, I'm gonna go home now." Nobody really pays attention. I don't know.
Katie: Well, where was the hotel? Yeah, well, yeah, definitely. But where was the hotel? Maybe they thought he was gonna go back to the hotel, which wasn't as far away as where he lived.
Stephanie: The hotel is the Grand Hotel, which I believe is in Yarmouth. Yeah in Yarmouth. So from the hotel to Plymouth is a 15 minute cab ride. Not too far of a drive, but to walk it's two hours.
Katie: Yeah. Okay.
AJ: So that, yeah, so that would be, I'm just trying to think, that would be like driving from Pictou to New Glasgow, 15 minutes. So walking...
Stephanie: and then walking home from, like The Cabaret, New Glasgow to Pictou.
AJ: Yeah. Which probably would take two hours or longer I guess. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, it's a huge party. You know how, if you're at a party and there's a lot of people there it's like you just realize, "Oh, this person's gone. I haven't seen them in hours." You realize they left. "I didn't see them go."
Stephanie: They never did find his phone when they're doing the search. His wallet and his cigarettes were in the pocket of his pants. You think his phone would be there too. They have yet to retrieve his phone. They haven't located that. That's a sketchy thing there too, because I don't know, what do you guys think? If anybody took off their pants, they're gonna take their cell phone and their keys and their wallet with them and leave their pants there. So to me it just seems odd.
AJ: Yeah. But I mean, I don't know why you would take your pants off anyway. I mean, I guess, unless those other things you were talking about, like hypothermia or whatever, but to me that's just odd.
Katie: Yeah, or if you're drunk enough or on drugs, you're not really thinking about your wallet. You take your pants off and just leave them there. He had his phone in his hand maybe, so that's why he kept that with him. So maybe he just wasn't thinking about those things at the time. I feel like if you're drunk enough to take your pants off and leave them there, you don't really care about anything else. Also, do they know where his cell phone last pinged off a tower. Do they know that location?
Stephanie: The last time his cell phone was pinged, it was at the location at the house when he made his first phone call at 11:49, in Plymouth. That's where it pinged last. So yeah, Zack's phone was pinged in the Plymouth area where the party was. They're still unable to retrieve his phone. They still don't have his phone. So the last location, according to his phone was in Plymouth.
AJ: So there's probably not that many cell phone towers in that area, so it was still pinging off the same tower. That could have been the same tower when he left the house. He probably didn't make it very far.
Stephanie: Yeah. Going back to earlier where I said he thought he was in Quinan, which is a five hour walk from Yarmouth, but he wasn't actually there. He was in the same Plymouth area, but he was walking in the opposite direction that you would walk to go to Yarmouth. He was still close enough to Plymouth that it probably would've pinged off the same cell tower. There's small towns all around that area. There's not, like I just said, a whole lot of cell towers. So according to his girlfriend Hannah, who wasn't at the party, she was able to get a hold of his phone records. While she was going through those records, she noticed that there was an unknown number that was texting him the night he disappeared, but they're unable to identify who this caller was. According to some friends and some of the rumors that were going around, there were a few names that kept coming up in the tip line when the police were asking for tips. A lot of them were saying this slightly different story, but the same names, but they have yet to release those names of those people that kept coming up in the tips. You know how police always keep certain things behind closed doors. There are a few names that keep coming up, but the police aren't saying who those names are. Some people are rumored to say that his disappearance could be linked to another case that happened back in September of 2020 in the same area.
This was the case of a boy named Colton who was murdered in the same area in September. But the police quickly ruled those out because those suspects were apprehended and that was due to a drug death that Colton had. So it was not related to Zack at all. Those are just some of the rumors that were going around because it happened in the same place, roughly around the same time, a few months apart. Police quickly rule that those two cases are not linked together.
It's been two years since Zack disappeared. Even though there are still lots of tips coming in, none of them have led anywhere and the police want anyone with any information about Zack's disappearance to come forward. His family and friends have set up a Facebook group called Bring Zack Home. It has about 11,000 members in it already. It has updates regularly. They're looking for anybody who could come forward with any information. There's a bunch of tips on it. It's a group that people can go and comment if they know anything or have any new information. Zack's family is also really close with the other family of Colton, the boy who was murdered in September. Weirdly enough, Zack's birthday and Colton's birthday were just one day apart. Zack's birthday is January 3rd, and Colton's birthday was January 4th. The family got to know each other. They're pretty close. It happened around the same area, so they likely knew each other because it was a small town and every year since the disappearance and the death of Colton, they have a vigil to keep their names in the forefront of the media, so people know what happened to Colton, but also, if anybody has information on Zack. I don't know much about Colton's case but like I said, the two cases are not related. Zach's family just wants some answers and just some justice. They want to know what happened, and they just to know if Zack's still out there, they want him to come home, or if anybody had any new information. There is a $30,000 reward out there for anyone who helps police and family with the whereabouts of Zack. This amount was donated by local businesses in Zack's hometown. Zack's family still has hope that he's still alive and want to bring him home. Zack is described as a white male, five ft nine, a hundred seventy five pounds with brown hair, brown facial hair, and blue eyes, and he was last seen wearing a plaid shirt and boxer shorts. If anybody has any information about this case or know anything or have any new tips , they can call the Southwest Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit at 9 0 2- 3 6 5 -3 1 20 or Crime stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. That's 1- 800- 222-8477. Before I end this episode, I just wanted to say that I wanted to do this case because it hits home because where I live in Nova Scotia. I didn't know Zack. I didn't know that family personally, but just to have something like this so significant in your home province, it just struck me a bit differently. This is why I wanted to do it. Where we live in a such a small province, and when someone goes missing it feels like someone in your hometown, someone you knew. Like I said, if anybody has any information about Zack's whereabout or if anybody knows anything, the family wants you to come forward with anything that could lead to some answers and some justice.
So that's my case. Do you guys have any final thoughts or any other theories that you think that might be out there?
AJ: Yeah, it's a weird one, how someone can just, I always find it fascinating the ones where people just go missing without a trace and I'm very curious to see who those people were that he said that he was walking with. Just to me it seems very, very odd. That anonymous number that was texting him also seems super odd and suspicious. So yeah, it is weird when it happens in Nova Scotia because it is such a small province and even if you don't know the people, it feels like you might know someone who knows someone who knows them. So it always just feels a little bit more closer to home. But yeah, it's, that's a weird one. I, I don't really have any theories. I mean, I guess he just fell into the woods or fell off into the water somewhere, like it would be my only thing if someone can just go missing like that. But does seem kind of suspicious. I don't know. It's weird.
Katie: Yeah, to me it wouldn't be too far off to think that someone did pick him up, and you know, something happened. They hurt him, killed him, and then dumped him somewhere farther away where you wouldn't expect to find his body. So, cause I just feel like if he did die from the elements or from something, they would've found his body along the road or along the shore or something. Because I just think that's more plausible. But to me it seemed like somebody picked him up and something happened from there. It is super interesting. It's a weird one.
AJ: Yeah. I wonder if it was someone at the party who followed him when he left, or if it was somebody that lured him out there. You know what I mean? That's why he wanted to leave at that random time to walk home. Maybe he was planning to meet someone or they were luring him. I don't know. It seems super odd, so I would suspect that, yeah, it's probably some foul play for sure. Cuz otherwise his body would have probably been found if they did the extensive search. That's what I'm leaning towards.
Stephanie: Yeah. That was my initial thought too when I was doing this case. Someone would have to follow him out there or out of the house because, to me, it just seems odd that he leaves the party before New Year's, before ringing in the new year. They were going to the party for New Year's Eve, so to me, to leave 10 minutes before midnight just seems really odd to me. The fact that nobody followed him, nobody cared that he was leaving and that he was gonna walk home. I don't know, to me, if I was at a party, then I say, "Oh, I'm gonna walk home." I'm sure somebody would say, "Wait, do you wanna drive?" Or, "We can call you a cab." I feel like you are not just gonna let someone leave your house walking in the middle of the night. You know what I mean? Winter time, pitch black. I was leaning more towards something more sinister happened to him, like Katie said, someone picked him up and killed him. In Nova Scotia there's lots of wooded areas and lots of farm areas, so it's possible that somebody could have buried him who knows where. It's so desolate. You can find millions of places to bury somebody in Nova Scotia, unfortunately.
AJ: Yeah. It's definitely a weird case and hopefully they can find some answers because we've said in other cases before that are unsolved, it's worse than finding the body, knowing that they're dead, is the not knowing. Is he out there? Is he alive? So I really, really hope the family can find some answers or resolution. Now it's been two years and as we all know, the longer you go the harder it gets for answers to come or to find out what happened.
Stephanie: I look for updates every so often on this case just to see if there's anything new. So if there is anything new, I'll let you guys know and maybe we'll do an episode on it. But as of right now, there's nothing new out there since he disappeared. Hopefully something comes out of it soon and that his family can get some justice and some peace into what happened to him.
AJ: Yeah. Let's hope.
That does it for this weeks episode of Crime Family. As always, you can follow us on all the social medias. If you like the show, we're on Instagram @crimefamilypodcast. We're on Twitter @crimefamilypod1, and we're on Facebook @ Crime Family Podcast. You can also send us an email, crimefamilypodcast@gmail.com and you can send us all of your feedback and suggestions. Let us know of a case you want us to cover. Anything like that, we'd love to connect with you. Also, if you love the show and you want to help support it and get some exclusive benefits, you can become a patron on Patreon. We'll put the link in the show notes to the Patreon page, but it's patreon.com/crime family podcast. And we do have a merch store on Red Bubble and you can find all of the exclusive Crime Family merch on Red Bubble. We'll put a link in the show notes to that as well. So lots of ways to support the show if you're a fan. Thank you so much for listening. We appreciate all of you for tuning in and until next time, take care. Bye.
Katie: Bye.
Stephanie: See ya.