Students look for formal recognition of garden honouring missing Wilfrid Laurier University student Eli Wood

CTV’s Hannah Schmidt stops by a community garden created for a missing Wilfrid Laurier University student.

Nearly nine months after Wilfrid Laurier University student Eli Wood disappeared, classmates are asking the school to formally recognize a community garden created in his honour.

Wood, 25, has been missing since October 2025.In the early hours of Oct. 19, a fire broke out at his home on Major Street in Kitchener.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service have previously said arson and foul play may be involved in the fire and disappearance. The investigation is still active, but as of Wednesday, police have not released any new details.

The student-led garden installation was created in May, and the people behind it want it formally recognized as “The Elias Wood Community Garden.” More than 170 members of Laurier’s master of social work community, along with friends and family, have signed a petition supporting the request.

Classmates said the garden was created as a place of healing and to keep Wood in their thoughts.

“It was our idea of us coming together and healing together,” classmate and friend Gisella Pacheco told CTV News. “The day that we presented the garden, it was a really special day because we all came together, we talked about him and we shared memories about him.”

“A physical space that says Eli is still here with us, that Eli matters and he is still part of this community, even in his absence,” classmate Jessica Houlachan wrote in an email statement. “It reminds us to stay present and to take in the moment.”

They said the space has become “a place of meeting, a place of reflection” for students, family members and friends.

Those who met Wood during the university’s master of social work program described him as someone who stood out both academically and personally.

“Eli is a very, very kind person, very caring and very smart,” classmate and friend Katalin Puscas said. “We all agreed that he had the quality to apply for a PhD and become a professor.”

One conversation in particular has stayed with her.

“He was saying the difference about being nice and being kind,” Puscas recalled. “He said it’s not the same because kindness comes from the heart. Since then, each time I talk with somebody, I always think that. That’s how Eli is. He has a big heart.”

Pacheco said Wood’s thoughtful nature made an impression on everyone around him.

“Whenever he would participate in class, I would always think, ‘Wow, this is a very smart person. I want to hear more from him and what he has to share,’” she said.

His classmates also remembered Wood’s quiet warmth.

“Whenever he would smile, you would see that smile from the eyes,” Pacheco said. “You would see that his eyes carry that kindness.”

“Eli’s impact reminds me that social work can be a practice of presence, not just process,” Houlachan stated. “This work is meaningful, but it is also hard; it means pushing up against systems that do not always want to change, and Eli made the people around him, including me, feel less alone in that struggle. He also reminds me of the power of relationships and how one person can make a lasting impact.”

As the months without answers continue, Wood’s classmates said the uncertainty has been difficult.

“It’s absolutely devastating,” Puscas said. “We graduated and Eli is still missing. This is very, very hard. I think of him every day.”

She said the experience has reinforced why classmates have continued advocating for the garden and raising awareness about Wood’s disappearance.

“I hope people recognize that he is not only a missing person,” Puscas said. “He is a human being who’s very missed, and he’s a very valuable person who has so much to offer.”

Pacheco said she hopes visitors see more than a garden.

“All of our memories that we all share together with him are still there. It’s a place of meeting, it’s a place of reflection.”

In a statement, Wilfrid Laurier University Dean of Students Adam Lawrence said, “We welcome this community garden as a special way to honour Eli Wood and support one another during this extremely difficult time.”

Wood’s family continues to offer a reward for information that could help locate him.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Waterloo Regional Police or Crime Stoppers.