Niagara police search the shores of the Welland Canal for missing teen

Niagara police are searching the Welland Canal shoreline for missing 18-year-old Quintin Bingley today and tomorrow.

Bingley has been missing since late May. Police said the search is happening immediately after the closure of the canal for the shipping season.

"The last time I saw him I asked him if he was OK, if there was anything I could do, if I could make him dinner?", says Sandra Kroeker, Bingley's mother.

It was Friday May 25, 2018 and Bingley had plans to go to dinner with his father, and then play paintball with his friends.

His grandmother had passed away recently, so Kroeker recalls everybody around him was always checking in on him to see how he was doing.

Bingley was last seen around 11:00 p.m. on that day. He was seen going into his house on Parnell Road and Pearce Avenue in St. Catharines, said Niagara police in a press release back in June 2018. 

He left at some point after that without his wallet or his phone, and Kroeker says all of his cash was at home. 

Niagara Regional Police Service's Marine Underwater Search and Recovery Unit and Emergency Task Unit will walk along the shore from Lock 1 to Lock 2 searching for the teenager. 

We are all hoping they don't find anything- Sandra Kroeker

"The closest, easiest way to harm oneself is the canal," says Kroeker. If the search finds something, Kroeker feels she might get closure.

"But of course, we are all hoping they don't find anything," says Kroeker. "There's always that possibility that he is out there and he is runaway."

"I would like to put out there that he is absolutely welcome back, and he won't be met with anger," says Kroeker. "Of course we will hurt, but it's not like he can't come back."  

Not forgotten

Last June Bingley was honoured during what would have been his graduation ceremony at Governor Simcoe Secondary School.

His father and mother walked up the stage to receive their son's awards, and they received a round of applause from everybody present, the St. Catharines Standard reported.

"I am really appreciative to the community and the police for their support in putting up posters and helping us look for him," says Kroeker.

Bingley is described as being 5 feet 7 inches tall and 147 lbs. He has blue eyes and short dirty blond hair. He was wearing an earring on his left ear, and has a tattoo of an arrow on his left forearm. He was last seen wearing a light blue shirt and khaki shorts, and it's not known if he was wearing shoes.

Niagara police say numerous members of the public have offered to help, but warn that the search will be dangerous and ask the public to stay away.