CANADA Canada - Robert Hoffmann, 24, German tourist, Vancouver, 2 Dec 2002

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http://www.nampn.org/cases/hoffmann_robert.html
Robert Hoffmann

hoffmann_robert.jpg

Above Images: Hoffmann, circa 2002
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance


Missing Since: December 2, 2002 from Vancouver, British Columbia
Classification: Missing
Date Of Birth: July 19, 1978
Age: 24
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 161 lbs
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Race: White
Gender: Male
Case Number: 02-279308
​

Details of Disappearance
Mr Hoffmann came from Germany for a vacation. He was staying at the backpackers hostel on Main Street. He was last seen on December 2, 2002.
The manager of the hostel reported him missing.

 
Wow, just the one pic and barely any details. No newspaper articles that I could find and no updates in 14 years? I did find a blog type site where someone claimed to know him and said he had been planning to go to the North Shore mountains that day (same area another tourist went missing - Tom Billings). I really wonder why there seems to have been no real efforts to find Robert?
 
Consider this rumour, or speculation because this info was found elsewhere, not a mns. Apparently written by someone who knew Robert..
Fwiw
They said he was quiet and clean-cut, not into drugs or heavy drinking and wanted to be a reporter. Had wanted to write about people in the downtown East Side and was possibly last seen at an internet cafe. He may have been planning to go to the North Shore mountain.
speculation.
 
He was on vacation, but had hoped on obtaining a work visa and had an interview set up with one of the larger Newspaper companies in Vancouver. He was very interested in writing about the east side. Thought his ultimate goal was to work at the main Canadian consulate office. I was the one that mentioned/wrote all of the above. I met him at CN backpackers hostel on main st. We were both temporarily staying there until we found suitable rentals. He was a very quiet guy. Very regimented because of his time in the German Army. Very clean and organized. Wasn't into heavy drinking or partying, he did no drugs. He lived his life very clean. We instantly hit it off and were seeing each other. I thought this was the guy that I get to introduce my family to. There never seemed to be any interest by police to find him. It took a few weeks just to get them to look at the case seriously. it was only after we went to the media (after trying everything including the mayors' office) - that the police said they were aware of the case and working on it. It was only after the media was involved and after their statement, that they showed up a few days later to take initial statements and open a case. The initial detective was great, but he soon retired after the case was opened. After that, I couldn't get a hold of anyone in the missing persons unit to get updates or whatever. None of my calls were answered (and there were not many). I was told that once a new case came in, that priority shifts to newer cases because the evidence is fresher and there is a higher chance of solving it - so his case seemed to have been brushed aside very quickly. There were quite a few missing cases of young men with similar descriptions going missing. There was even a very large newspaper series on the missing cases and similarities. All clean cut guys, good backgrounds, similar looks/features - no reason to disappear that disappeared. Over the years, and trying to get info from VPD - I've all but given up. His parents and I have stopped communicating as it's been too painful for all of us to deal with this. They lost their only son, I lost whom I considered my true love.
 
Katyast said:
He was on vacation, but had hoped on obtaining a work visa and had an interview set up with one of the larger Newspaper companies in Vancouver. He was very interested in writing about the east side. Thought his ultimate goal was to work at the main Canadian consulate office. I was the one that mentioned/wrote all of the above. I met him at CN backpackers hostel on main st. We were both temporarily staying there until we found suitable rentals. He was a very quiet guy. Very regimented because of his time in the German Army. Very clean and organized. Wasn't into heavy drinking or partying, he did no drugs. He lived his life very clean. We instantly hit it off and were seeing each other. I thought this was the guy that I get to introduce my family to. There never seemed to be any interest by police to find him. It took a few weeks just to get them to look at the case seriously. it was only after we went to the media (after trying everything including the mayors' office) - that the police said they were aware of the case and working on it. It was only after the media was involved and after their statement, that they showed up a few days later to take initial statements and open a case. The initial detective was great, but he soon retired after the case was opened. After that, I couldn't get a hold of anyone in the missing persons unit to get updates or whatever. None of my calls were answered (and there were not many). I was told that once a new case came in, that priority shifts to newer cases because the evidence is fresher and there is a higher chance of solving it - so his case seemed to have been brushed aside very quickly. There were quite a few missing cases of young men with similar descriptions going missing. There was even a very large newspaper series on the missing cases and similarities. All clean cut guys, good backgrounds, similar looks/features - no reason to disappear that disappeared. Over the years, and trying to get info from VPD - I've all but given up. His parents and I have stopped communicating as it's been too painful for all of us to deal with this. They lost their only son, I lost whom I considered my true love.
Click to expand...
Welcome to Ws and thanks for your informative post, so glad to see this page get attention!
So sorry about the loss of your true love.
 
I don't have other photos of him, what I saved electronically, I can't pull the files off. What other photos I had of him, were destroyed in flooding. There was a very large chance he was going to the north shore mountains. The last I saw of him was when I left at 5 am to go to work. All we know is that he went to an internet cafe in the morning to write friends/family back home that he was enjoying his time in Vancouver, that all was well and that he may be going to the North Shore for a hike. The detective that was assigned to the case before he retired shortly thereafter gave 5 possibilities: 1) he somehow got amnesia and doesn't know who or where he is 2) as he was in the eastside, a drug gang imprisoned him and got him hooked on drugs (apparently this happens often on the Vancouver Eastside) 3) He went to the North Shore and fell somewhere and his body has not been found 4) he was walking on the road/bridge and a car hit him and we haven't found his body in the ditch yet (another scenario he said happens often in Vancouver). 5) kidnapped and dead. - almost all the scenarios they say were a possibility - end in him deceased, which is why I think they quickly moved to a new case. His belongings were moved to the German Consulate - and it seemed shortly thereafter everyone went their separate ways. We tried to get volunteers to help look/canvas and put up posters. no one was interested. What was strange is what posters we did put up, were quickly torn down by someone or someones. I have my own theories. 1) he was murdered for something he saw or heard or wrong place/wrong time while in the Downtown Eastside. 2) A fellow hosteler was deeply/creepily interested in me, professing love and all to me and had done something to Robert 3) he went to the north shore and did fall somewhere. 4) He started hanging out with these Mexican exchange students, when he disappeared, they seemed to disperse and leave the picture fairly quickly.
 
How well did Robert speak English, did he have a strong accent?
Not likely, but did any of the Mexican students look like him at all?
speculation.
 
I stumbled across this thread last night, and kept thinking about it. @Katyast , I hope you still keep checking in.
Was the german ministry of foreign affairs involved in this(I bet they were) and what was their opinion about Robert's disappearance? Normally they can have some sort of influence in those cases. ...
I also want to express that I feel deep compassion for you and Robert 's family, this situation is pure horror when you love someone :(
 
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