On March 12, 2023, 38-year-old Jake Corbiere left his home in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and seemingly vanished. Three years later, police believe foul play may have been involved, his family and community continue searching for answers, and a reward of up to $25,000 remains available for information that could help bring Jake home.
Jake is a member of Garden River First Nation, located just east of Sault Ste. Marie. According to Canada’s Missing, Jake was last seen on March 12 at his residence in the city. The national missing-person record describes the person who last saw Jake at home as his “roommate,” but Jake’s family has clarified that this person was actually his life partner.
That day, Jake reportedly left the residence accompanied by an unidentified man. Before leaving, Jake said that he was going to a nearby Tim Hortons. Police have subsequently described his last-known location as the area of Churchill Avenue between Farwell Terrace and Peoples Road.
What happened after Jake left remains unclear. There has been no publicly confirmed sighting of him since March 12, and police have not publicly said whether investigators established that Jake ever arrived at the Tim Hortons. Authorities have also not disclosed whether the unidentified man who reportedly left with Jake was eventually identified or interviewed.
Those unanswered questions make Jake’s final known movements especially significant. If he did reach Tim Hortons, who saw him there? If he didn’t, where did he go after leaving home? And perhaps most importantly, who was the man accompanying him?
Jake was 38 when he disappeared. He is approximately 5’10” tall with a thin build, brown eyes and short brown hair. He has three hoop earrings in his left ear and several distinctive tattoos, including a dragon-blade tattoo on his left forearm and a dragon tattoo on his right shoulder.
As the months passed without any word from Jake, investigators continued trying to reconstruct what happened to him. Police conducted grid searches, examined financial records and interviewed people within the community. Despite those efforts, Jake was not found, and investigators eventually became increasingly concerned that his disappearance was not voluntary.
By the first anniversary of Jake’s disappearance in March 2024, Sault Ste. Marie Police publicly acknowledged that they suspected foul play. Police have never publicly disclosed exactly what evidence led investigators to that conclusion, and no suspect or person of interest has been publicly identified. Police Chief Hugh Stevenson said at the time that investigators believed somebody knew something about what happened to Jake.
For Jake’s family, the first anniversary brought a painful recognition of just how much time had passed. Family members and supporters gathered at the Garden River Community Centre for a vigil. Jake’s cousin, Garden River councillor Chester Langille, spoke on behalf of the family, appealing to anyone with information to come forward. Their hope was simple: they wanted Jake brought home and they wanted answers.
Garden River First Nation also offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information that helps locate Jake. Chief Karen Bell has repeatedly appealed to anyone who may know something to speak up, emphasizing the impact Jake’s disappearance has had not only on his loved ones but throughout the community.
Then, in August 2024, there was a significant development.
On August 7, officers with the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service and Ontario Provincial Police conducted a major search in the 1400 block of Peoples Road. Detectives, Emergency Services Unit members and canine officers were involved. Investigators could be seen concentrating on a property, including areas around a vehicle in the front yard and behind the residence.
Police confirmed that the search was connected to the investigation into Jake’s disappearance.
What they did not reveal was why that particular property had become important. Police did not publicly identify what information led them there, whether Jake had a known connection to the property or its occupants, or whether anything relevant to the investigation was recovered. The fact that the property was searched does not establish that anyone associated with it was involved in Jake’s disappearance.
The location was nevertheless noteworthy. Peoples Road is in the same general part of Sault Ste. Marie as the Churchill Avenue area associated with Jake’s final known movements. Whether that geographical proximity has any significance has never been publicly explained.
Jake’s case remained a high-priority missing-person investigation throughout 2025. Police and Crime Stoppers continued appealing for information, while investigators continued working through the evidence already gathered. Yet there was still no publicly announced breakthrough.
On March 12, 2026, exactly three years after Jake disappeared, Sault Ste. Marie Police and Garden River First Nation once again asked the public for help. Police said investigators had continued examining all available information. Multiple grid searches had been conducted, financial records reviewed and members of the community interviewed, but none of those efforts had provided the answers necessary to locate Jake.
The $25,000 reward offered by Garden River First Nation remained available.
Three years without a confirmed sighting has left Jake’s family with questions that only someone with information may be able to answer. Police have repeatedly expressed their belief that there are people who know more about what happened than they have revealed. Yet whatever information investigators believe is still out there has not been enough to bring Jake home.
There is also very little responsible speculation that can be made about Jake’s disappearance. Police have publicly stated that they suspect foul play, but they have not explained why. The search of the Peoples Road property demonstrates that investigators have followed specific leads, but it does not tell the public what those leads were or whom they involved. No one has been publicly accused of causing Jake’s disappearance.
One very important unanswered questions remains the identity of the man reportedly accompanying Jake when he left home. The publicly available information does not establish whether investigators know who he was. Nor has it been revealed whether police have surveillance footage from the area, whether Jake’s cellphone provided useful information, or whether investigators were able to establish his movements after leaving his residence.
As of August 2026, Jake Corbiere remains missing. He would now be 41 years old. Sault Ste. Marie Police continue to investigate his disappearance, while Garden River First Nation and Jake’s loved ones continue waiting for the information that might finally explain what happened on March 12, 2023.
Jake left home that day saying he was going somewhere nearby. He was reportedly accompanied by another man. After that, the publicly known trail goes cold.
Somebody may know where Jake went next. Somebody may know who he met, where he spent his final known hours, or why he never returned home. After more than three years, even a seemingly insignificant memory or detail could provide investigators with the piece they have been missing.
Until that happens, Jake’s family and community are left with the same question they have carried since March 2023: Where is Jake Corbiere?
If you have information on Jake’s case, please contact any of the following:
Sault Ste. Marie Police Service:
Telephone: 705-949-6300
Email: missingpersons@ssmps.org
Reference Case#: SM23006229
Canada’s Missing Case reference: 2023013234
Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS(8477)
Online at: https://www.canadiancrimestoppers.org/submit-a-tip/submit-a-tip
Crime Stoppers provides anonymous tipping
Send email to the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains at: canadasmissing-disparuscanada@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Sources: Canada’s Missing, Sault Ste. Marie Police Service, Garden River First Nation, SooToday, Sault Ste. Marie & Algoma District Crime Stoppers, Wawa-news.com.
