Family of Quebec man missing in Mexico still hope for his return

Friends and relatives of a Quebec man who mysteriously vanished while driving home from Mexico 10 months ago are still holding out hope he is alive.

But Marc Menard's loved ones say they need more help on the ground in a very dangerous part of Mexico if they're ever to find out what happened to the husband and father after he disappeared en route to the U.S. border.

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"It's the uncertainty of not knowing," said Jonathan Menard, the 45-year-old man's only sibling. "Is he alive? What did they do with him? Is he eating? Is he drinking?"

Marc Menard, a bus driver from the Montreal-area community of Laval, was described as a bon vivant who liked to travel and wanted to keep doing so while he was still in excellent health.

He left Canada in December 2012 and was driving back home after three months of travelling through Mexico and Guatemala by car. His plan was to cross the U.S.-Mexico border at the notoriously dangerous town of Nuevo Laredo, a haven of drug cartel violence.

There is no record of Menard ever making it across the border.

"We know he was kidnapped, but for the rest, we're unaware," Jonathan Menard said in a telephone interview.

Petition calls on government for support

Supporters are hoping to elicit the help of Canadian politicians. A petition is circulating with the hope that Menard's MP will present it in the House of Commons.

Alexandra Deziel, a family friend, says the petition calls on the federal government to appeal to Interpol so the international organization can ask questions about Menard's disappearance and conduct a proper search.

Deziel is one of a small group of friends to have worked tirelessly to find Menard by creating an online buzz through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Deziel, who has known Menard for about a decade, said dealing with the Mexican authorities has been frustrating.

"The communication with the authorities of Mexico is nightmarish," she said, adding that's why they need help. Menard's name appears with 6,100 others on the Mexican attorney general's website of missing people.