Family pleads for help in Banff missing person case

Family and friends of Mary-Lynn Baltzer have sent out emails appealing to the public to help find her, after she went missing from Banff last October.

Cpl. Gary Fedrau of the Banff RCMP detachment said as far as he knows, the information being distributed is accurate.

“Miss Baltzer is still a missing person,” he said, adding the RCMP has conducted extensive searches, but not released any more information on the case. The email was sent from the domain www.helpfindahren.com, a site about Ahren Barnard, an Idaho man who went missing in 2004.

The email contains the information that Baltzer, 48, known as ML, was reported missing in Banff on Oct. 5, 2008. When she went missing she weighed about 119 pounds, was 5’5” tall and she had blonde hair. 

Baltzer also has a ring from Kings-Edgehill School in Nova Scotia and a gold necklace with a Capricorn symbol, and she wears glasses, a watch and earrings. When she was last seen she was wearing a dark coat, a dark hat and had a black backpack. She has scars on her chest, her right knee and her leg. 

Baltzer’s mother, Janice, posted to a Facebook group called “Help find ML,” pleading for help. 

“Anyone hiking or walking in Banff, please look for my daughter Mary-Lynn Baltzer,” she wrote. “Life is certainly not the same without her. Her brother and I need to find her and yet we live so far away here in Nova Scotia.”

“We desperately need help... Our struggle goes on every day and does not get any easier. We loved her dearly. Please, please help our cause... God bless you all who have joined the group.”

In October, Const. Gary Zinck of the Banff police detachment said Baltzer had been working at the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel and was reported missing Oct. 5 when she didn’t show up for work. 

He also said she has lived in Banff for about a decade and that she was known to be relatively active. On Facebook, Baltzer’s mother wrote, “She enjoyed hiking and walking, even though she had had several cancer-related operations and was in recovery.” 

Anyone with information about this missing person case is asked to contact Banff RCMP at 403-762-2226 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).