Parents bemoan RCMP's response to Richard Binder Jr.'s disappearance

The parents of a man who was found deadoutsideInuvik, N.W.T., more than a year ago say they knew he was missing the day hedidn't come home after running away from police.

Richard Binder Jr., 35, was found dead near Big Lake on Nov. 3, 2018, just five days after police asked for the public's help in finding Binder based on an outstanding arrest warrant.

A coroner's inquest into his death began Tuesday. It revealed Binder died of hypothermia.

According to an agreed statement of facts shared during the inquest, at around 8:20 p.m. onOct. 25, 2018 three days before Binder was reported missing RCMP officers were called to 6 Navy Roadin Inuvikbecause of an alleged altercation.

Upon arrival, the two officers separatedBinder and his then-partner, who had blood on her face. Const. Todd Glemser, one of the two officers who testified during the inquest, said he saw Binder taking a swig from a bottle of alcohol.

Cpl.Brennan Woodcock, the lead investigator for the case, said in testimony that he noticed Binderwas holding a bag with alcohol in it. He said Binderhad conditions under his recognizance,which included not possessing alcohol.

Woodcock told the court Binder had previous cases for domestic violence. A police statement from Oct. 29, 2018 said Binder had "multiple outstanding warrants."

Woodcock said he told Binderthat he was under arrest for breaking his conditions and asked him to put the bag down, which is when Binder ran away.

Woodcock said he chased Binder down the street for about 100 metres but Binder got too far ahead of him and he decided to turn around.

I felt like I wasn't being listened to or heard.- Olive Binder, Richard Binder Jr.'s mother

Woodcock said he also wanted to make sure Binder's ex-partner was safe since officers suspected Binder had injured her and she needed to be taken to the hospital.

According to Woodcock, they then went to look for Binder at his parents' house, which is where he was living, but Binder wasn't there.

Woodcock saidBinder had acourt ordered curfew between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Reported missing

Olive Binder, Binder's mother,testified that her son didn't carry a cell phone on him, but she knew he was missing when he didn't return home that night.

She said this wasn't the first time her son had runaway from RCMP, but in the past, he had always called.

She said she asked RCMP to contact ground search and rescue so they could start looking for her son,but that officers told her theycouldn't because there were rumours Binder was in town.

Three days later, onOct. 28, 2018, Oliveofficially reported Binder missing to RCMP in hopes that ground search and rescue would get involved. She said she worried her son would freeze and wanted help from the RCMP.

Olive said she and other relatives set up their own search efforts around town and the Mackenzie River.

She said the RCMP kept coming to her house to see if Binder was there and she told them "we need to find his body now."

"I felt like I wasn't being listened to or heard," said Olive.

'A feeling in our hearts that he had passed'

During the inquest, Richard Binder Sr. said hisson was inadequately dressed for the weather the night he ran away from RCMP.

"In those temperatures, you can't play around," said Richard.

"We wanted so desperately to find him. We had a feeling in our hearts that he had passed."

Richard said he saw the RCMP was trying, but they spent too much time listening to rumours and stories about their son's whereabouts in town. He felt the family should have had a primary contact within the RCMP.

Woodcocksaid the RCMP continued to look for Binder and would listen and follow up on any leads about his whereabouts around town, although they all led to dead ends.

Asked by the coroner's counsel why they did not request assistance from the Yellowknife RCMP's K-9 unit, Glemser testifiedthat they didn't think the outstanding arrest warrant for breach of conditions was serious enough to warrant calling for support.

Glemseralso said Binder typically returned home after running away in the past.

At about 9 p.m. on Nov.3, 2018,RCMP got a call that there was a body near Big Lake. It was Binder.

The inquiry into Binder's death continues until Thursday, when the jury is expected to give out their recommendations.

Jessi Casebeer, lawyer for the coroner,told the members of the jury that their purpose is not to assign blame, "but to prevent deaths of similar nature from happening in the future."