An extensive search of a Peoples Road property conducted by police last week has failed to produce any new leads in the disappearance of 40-year-old Jake Corbiere.
Members of Sault Ste. Marie Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police and Greater Sudbury Police Service executed a search warrant for the entire property Aug. 7, deploying a significant amount of resources — including a number of investigators and a canine unit — in order to search for leads throughout the day.
The warrant for the property was obtained as a result of “information that kept leaning towards that area,” Sault Ste. Marie Police Service spokesperson Lincoln Louttit told SooToday Tuesday.
“It was an extensive search of the area to really use a fine-tooth comb and make sure that all the different areas of that property were searched to really exhaust that as a potential location,” Louttit said.
Corbiere has not spoken with family or friends since March 12, 2023 — the day he was last seen in the 0-100 block of Churchill Avenue in the city’s west end.
Police suspect foul play was involved.
His sister, Christina Corbiere, told SooToday that police informed her of the search on the same morning the warrant was executed in the 1400 block of Peoples Road. “Every time that we hear that there’s a search, we always think it’s related to Jake. It makes us anxious,” she said.
Christina says family members were hopeful that Corbiere would have been located that day. But at the same time, his sister was dreading that reality.
“Then, you would have all those million questions: What happened? Did he suffer?” she said.
A previous search of the city’s west end by police in August 2023 also failed to turn up any leads in Corbiere’s disappearance.
In March, Garden River First Nation announced a reward of up to $25,000 for anyone who provides information that leads to finding him. “I guess that never even fazed anybody’s mind, that kind of money,” Christina said. “I’m not sure why people won’t say something.”
His sister has been inundated with hearsay from members of the public since Corbiere's disappearance, including some graphic and disturbing descriptions of what supposedly happened to him.
“Those thoughts are in the back of your mind, as well as everything else that you’ve heard,” Christina said. “The emails and messages that I’ve received from people I don’t know are horrible. I’m glad that I’m the one that receives all of these things, and not my family members.”
Christina was informed by police the day after the search that nothing was found on the Peoples Road property. “We’re just left in limbo,” she said. “We don’t know what happened, we don’t know what’s going to happen next. It’s uncertainty every day.”
Corbiere is described as 5-foot-10 with a thin build, brown eyes and short brown hair.
Anyone with information on Corbiere’s whereabouts is urged to contact Sault Ste. Marie Police Service by calling Detective Sergeant Darren Corcoran at 705-949-6300 ext. 387.
“If you have any sort of information whatsoever, please come forward and share it,” said Louttit. “We’re hoping for a positive outcome. It’s been an extensive period of time since Jake was last spoken to, but every little bit of information helps.”
Tips can also be provided anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 705-942-7867 or 1-800-222-8477. Information can also be submitted online or by downloading the P3 app.