The community of Outlook and the surrounding area is now in mourning following the tragic and heartbreaking loss of a young, outgoing teen who had just graduated from high school less than a month ago.
Seventeen-year old Justin Warwaruk went missing on Sunday, July 16 near the Fred Heal boat launch located on the South Saskatchewan River, approximately 12 km south of Saskatoon.
For five days, there was a massive outpouring of support for Warwaruk's family as extensives searches were undertaken for the young man.
Sadly, on Friday morning, July 21, a body believed to be Justin was discovered roughly two kilometers downriver from the launch. But while the find was a heartbreaking one for family and friends, the RCMP says it was also "a huge relief" for Justin's family, who simply wanted to find their loved one and bring some sense of closure to this sad series of events.
Sgt. Greg Abbott told media that the support for Warwaruk's family has been instrumental in helping them to cope, with many residents from Outlook playing a huge role in aiding the family and helping with the searches throughout the week.
“It really was overwhelming for the family to see the kind of family support and the kind of community support that they had involved in this," Sgt. Abbott said. "We can’t thank the family and friends of this particular family enough for giving their support and for volunteering all that they did in trying to bring this to a conclusion.”
The memorial service for Justin took place on Tuesday night at the Outlook Laestadian Church, with the funeral service set for the following morning.
In the wake of Warwaruk's disappearance, a crowd-funding web page was set up in order to support the search efforts and the family, with the total tally being just over $28,000 at the time this issue was published.
