Reward offered for tips in Sebringville, Ont. man’s disappearance

Derek Ritz disappeared eight years ago and his family is holding onto hope that they'll someday find out why. Hannah Schmidt has the story.

The Stratford Police Service is offering a $10,000 reward for information that helps solve a cold case.

Derek Ritz, known as “Ritzy” to his friends, disappeared nine years ago from a home in Sebringville, a small community west of Stratford, Ont.

The 51-year-old was last seen on Dec. 31, 2016, around 1 a.m., but was not reported missing to Ontario Provincial Police until Jan. 7.

“He was known as a funny, caring guy,” his friend Shelly Smith told CTV Kitchener in January 2025. “Yeah, he had his demons, but he doesn’t deserve this.”

The investigation is now in the hands of the Stratford Police Service.

“The Stratford Police Service has conducted an exhaustive investigation into the disappearance of Derek Ritz, including interviewing over 100 potential witnesses and conducting extensive searches of various properties throughout the area,” they wrote in a media release on Jan. 1, 2026.

A private investigator with Please Bring Me Home Canada, a not-for-profit organization that helps with the search for missing people, was also pursuing potential leads in the case.

“I started to arrange interviews with Derek’s closest circle; those initial interviews were troubling to say the least,” the investigator, who asked not to be identified, told CTV Kitchener in 2025. “We have had the privilege to speak with people who have had the courage to come forward and say, ‘I was there.’ Those individuals have really come forward after so much anguish, to say a group of people who are known in the community took his life in a horrific manner.”

The investigator also believes those responsible for Ritz’s disappearance have created a culture of fear in the community.

“99 per cent of these individuals are terrified to come forward because they think they will be the next one,” she explained.

On Thursday, Stratford Police announced they were now offering a $10,000 reward for “any individual who provides information that results in the confirmed whereabouts of Derek Ritz and the closure of this case; and/or the arrest and conviction of the individuals responsible.”

They asked “anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem,” to contact police.

“Investigators remain committed to seeking the truth and bringing resolution to this matter,” they wrote.

Tips can be made to Det. Sgt. Mike Weyers at 519-271-4147, ext. 8184, or anonymously to Crime Stoppers.