A North Vancouver couple who vanished 20 years ago without a trace could still be alive, says a private investigator who worked on the case.
Nick and Lisa Masee never showed up to a meeting they were supposed to attend at a downtown Vancouver restaurant on Aug. 11, 1994, and haven't been heard from since. Their cat was left behind unfed and their car was left in their driveway unlocked, said The Province.
Private investigator Ozzie Kaban was hired by Nick's son, who lives overseas, to look into the case.
“There was just so much smoke, the whole thing didn't fall into place," Kaban told News 1130. "If you’re smart and you know how to avoid certain things, there’s a lot of ways you can hide.”
Months after the couple's disappearance, Kaban traced a bank account in the Cayman Islands belonging to them, CBC News reported. It had more than $100,000 in it.
"As far as I'm concerned, he's alive and living a really good life with money in his pocket," Kaban told the outlet. "I hope they're enjoying themselves but I sure as hell would like to know where they are."
When the Masees disappeared, Nick was recently retired from working as an investment banker for a big name bank, according to an RCMP press release. He then became a director of a Vancouver Stock Exchange company that went broke after the couple vanished, said The Vancouver Sun.
Police explored links between Nick Masee's work and disappearance but came up dry.
Still, Kaban told CBC News he suspects Nick was running from something because he seemed distraught at a funeral the day before he disappeared and had said he would skip town.
But according to News 1130, Nick's son said his father wasn't the type to stage his own death.
Nick would be 75 years old today, and Lisa would be 59. The case remains open.
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