MISSING: Dean Curtis Mortensen (1992) - Edmonton, AB
By S.M. Published 07/11/20Dean Curtis Mortensen
Missing since January 24, 1992 from Edmonton, AlbertaDean Curtis Mortensen grew up in Grande Cache, Alberta, a coal mining town about 435 km west of Edmonton. He was the eldest of four and his father worked in the mines. He excelled in school. In 1991, Dean began his first year in general science at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
At the end of his first semester, Dean went home to Grand Cache to celebrate a quiet Christmas with his family. On January 6, 1992, he returned to the University of Alberta, where he lived at St. Joseph’s College residence - a close-knit residence of about 63 young men. He played defence for the St. Joe’s Rangers.
According to Stephen Beland, who grew up with Dean in Grand Cache and whose room was just down the hall at SJC, Dean was “super bright” and “really responsible.” He was lanky, quiet, and never swore.
“He was the only guy in the whole dorm who made his bed every day,” he told Maclean's in 2013.
Later that week, Dean spoke with his mother on the phone about his winter exam marks, which had been good. They would never speak again.
Several weeks into his second semester, on Thursday, January 23, 1992, Dean and a few friends went to The Ship – a student pub located at the Lister Hall residence near the Jubilee Auditorium. Beland was with Dean that night.
Beland told Maclean’s that he left the pub early, but saw Dean “down a couple of vodka slimes.”
Lister Hall (left) seen from 87th Avenue - the route Mortensen would have taken back to SJC.
Photo: Canada Unsolved
It was -10 degrees Celsius when Dean left The Ship at around 12:30 a.m. on January 24 to walk home to St. Joseph’s College. Reports on who he was with vary. Beland has said Dean was with two friends. Early newspaper reports state that Dean left with just one friend.
When Dean and his friend(s) reached 87th Avenue and 114th Street, behind the Butterdome, Dean’s friend realized he had forgot something at the pub. He said he would be right back. Dean was left alone for just a few minutes, less than 100 metres from the door to St. Joseph’s.
When the friend(s) returned, Dean had vanished.
January 24, 1992
On Friday, Dean missed his morning class, which was out of character.
In an April 2007 University of Alberta Alumni Magazine article, Beland said he knocked on Dean’s door early in the morning on his way to class. There was no response; Beland assumed Dean had slept in. The article also claims that Beland grew concerned when Dean missed his second and third classes. When Beland returned at 1 p.m., he “forced” his way into Dean’s room. However, according to the 2013 Maclean’s article, Beland said he convinced a prefect to unlock the door to Dean’s room sometime in the evening.
When Beland gained entry to Dean’s room, it was discovered that his bed hadn’t been slept in. Nothing was disturbed. That week, police and students canvassed the area in search of any sign of Dean Mortensen. The students at SJC hung their jerseys from their windows as a sign of respect.
The Circumstances:
No single theory makes sense. Dean hadn’t been prepared to simply walk out of his life; he had withdrawn $20 the night of his disappearance for the trip to the pub. His two bank accounts - containing over $3,000 - were left untouched. He had only the clothes he was wearing: Nike running shoes, faded blue jeans, a St. Joe’s Rangers hockey jersey, and a Grande Cache Bantam Elks Hockey crested jacket with white leather sleeves, gold leather shoulders, and a white leather collar. One sleeve has “Dean,” the other has “Defence.”
At the time, police they thought Dean’s disappearance was unusual, but not suspicious. His mother, Pat Mortensen, said she didn’t believe Dean would have ran away.
She also did not believe alcohol had played a role in his disappearance. Dean was 6’1” and had only drank two or three beers and a couple shots of vodka. His friends didn’t notice anything unusual about him that night, and there is no indication that he was visibly intoxicated. He wasn’t known to be a “drinker.”
On January 30, investigators announced they were “canvassing” cab drivers in the city who might have been on the University campus on the night Dean disappeared.
On February 7, without locating any trace of him, police called off the search for Dean.
The Only Clue:
One week after Dean’s disappearance, a librarian located his blue St. Joe’s Rangers hat in the backyard of a residence at 108th street and Saskatchewan Drive, not far from the High Level Bridge.
The discovery of the hat is the only trace of Dean Mortensen that has ever been found.
One of the last reported physical searches for Dean Mortensen during the year he vanished took place on May 2, 1992, at 9 a.m., when the Special Assistance Services Search and Rescue Association of Canada conducted a ground search for his body. Once again, nothing was found.
Theories:
During the investigation, several clairvoyants came forward with theories about Dean’s disappearance. One said she had a dream that she saw Dean in the back of a yellow pickup truck. Investigators said they followed every tip, however far-fetched it seemed.
On August 4, 1992, Staff Sgt. Steve Koenig of the city police criminal investigation section told the Edmonton Journal, "From what we can see this kid had it all. There was no reason for him to want to commit suicide and no reason for anybody to abduct." In the same article, Koenig also said, "I think something snapped in him, whether it was caused by the alcohol, pressure from school or whatever. And, he, just being half-drunk, decided that life ain't worth living and took a walk.”
The lingering possibility that Dean drowned in the North Saskatchewan River has always remained. If he ended his life without having shown warning signs or was involved in a tragic accident remains unknown. Though foul play was not initially suspected, the passage of time without a single lead or piece of physical evidence – other than the discarded Ranger’s hat - lends credence to the possibility that Dean may have encountered some sort of trouble with person(s) unknown.
“It’s tricky to vanish,” said Father Timothy Scott in the 2007 University of Alberta Alumni Magazine article about Dean’s disappearance. “Especially in the dead of winter, it’s pretty hard to make yourself disappear, if that’s what this was. So you suspect foul play.”
No single theory offers an explanation to the most important question: if something happened to Dean in the area where he was last seen, why has he never been found?
By all accounts, Dean Mortensen was doing well in school and had no reason – or means – to disappear. On Februrary 10, 1992, Dean’s mother spoke about her son’s disappearance to the Edmonton Journal.
"I think that's the hardest part right now, the uncertainty. It's a waiting game. I just hope 10 years from now it's not the same situation."
Dean Mortensen has been missing for over 28 years.
Dean’s Legacy:
January 24 is Dean Mortensen Day at St. Joseph’s College. The number 55 was retired, and his blue Ranger sweater hangs inside the residence on the wall.
In 1994, the Student Union’s Safe Safewalk program, which provides escorts for students walking at night, was developed out of concern for what happened to Dean Mortensen.
Each year, the Dean Mortensen Scholarship is awarded to a student who is active in intramurals, has leadership skills, and contributes to a safer campus. On the anniversary of his disappearance, the students of SJC – many of whom play for the St. Joe’s Rangers hockey team - hang their jerseys outside the dorm windows as a salute to Dean Mortensen. They dress in formal attire, wear blue ribbons and hold an evening prayer service. In 2019, Stephen Beland spoke at the vigil. Decades later, Dean’s memory and the mystery of his disappearance is ever-present on campus.
“We look out for each other and we try to look out for others,” said one SJC student in January 2000, eight years after Dean’s disappearance, “because if this can happen to one of our own, it can happen to others."
Physical Characteristics & Clothing:
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 165lbs
Age at Disappearance: 18 or 19 years old
Clothing:
· Nike runners, faded blue jeans
· Dark blue St. Joe’s Ranger hockey jersey
· Grande Cache Bantam Elks Hockey crested jacket with white leather sleeves, gold leather shoulders, and white leather collar. One sleeve has “Dean,” the other sleeve has “Defence.”
· A “St. Joe’s Rangers” crested dark blue baseball cap, which was later recovered.
Contact Information:
If you have any information on this or any other crime, please contact the Edmonton Police Service Complaint Line at 780-423-4567 or the Edmonton Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit your tip online. Please reference the EPS file number when possible.
EPS File #:92-11461
Links & Further Reading: * Dean Mortensen’s age at the time of his disappearance was initially reported as 18 years old, but is listed as 19 on the website for the Edmonton Police.
https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CrimeFiles/MissingPersons/1990to1999/MORTENSENDean
https://www.ualberta.ca/st-josephs/newsandevents/2019/january/dean-mortensen-day.html
https://www.ualberta.ca/st-josephs/newsandevents/2020/january/dean-mortensen-day.html
https://issuu.com/ualbertaalumni/docs/ntspring2007/8
https://www.edmontonsarchitecturalheritage.ca/index.cfm/neighbourhoods/university-of-alberta/
https://sites.ualberta.ca/~publicas/folio/44/11/11.html
Edmonton Journal Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 04 Aug 1992, Tue • Page 15
Edmonton Journal Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 07 Feb 1992, Fri • Page 18
Edmonton Journal Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 10 Feb 1992, Mon • Page 11
Edmonton Journal Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 25 Jan 2000, Tue • Page 19
Edmonton Journal Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 02 May 1992, Sat • Page 5
Edmonton Journal Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 02 May 1992, Sat • Page 20
Edmonton Journal Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 30 Jan 1992, Thu • Page 16