A man from Red Deer, Alta., is missing and may be in Whitehorse.

William James Paesch is 48 years old. His family calls him Jimmy. He has dark brown hair and brown eyes, stands five feet 11 inches tall and weighs about 260 pounds.

Paesch wears glasses and often dark blue or black suits and blue jeans.

His older brother, Wayne Paesch, told the Star this morning Jimmy has been missing since last Wednesday.

Jimmy has mental health issues, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, Wayne said. Their mother calls him every day, to make sure he’s gotten out of bed, taken his medications and eaten breakfast.

Last Wednesday, there was no answer at Jimmy’s house. She kept calling between 8 and 10 a.m. and finally asked the police to stop by. (Recently admitted to hospital for an illness, she wasn’t able to do this herself, Wayne said.)

Red Deer police found the keys to Jimmy’s house and truck on the kitchen table along with a note addressed to Jimmy’s mother.

“He’s saying how difficult it is to deal with alcohol problems, in his childhood and into his adulthood and ... he had a plan of leaving for a long time, in his words, ‘leaving the world’ for a long time, since 2012,” Wayne said of the note.

“He wants to go out there because nothing changes, nothing gets better and life doesn’t give him any opportunities.”

Wayne said Jimmy took with him his cell phone and Patches, one of his two dogs.

Police pinged the phone that morning, which showed his phone last received a signal from a cell tower near the highway between Red Deer and Sylvan Lake, Alta.

The next day, the ping showed a tower in Whitehorse. Police thought it was an error, but six subsequent pings also tracked the phone to Whitehorse.

Jimmy called his social assistance worker in Alberta last Friday, and gave her a Whitehorse number.

He was abrupt, the worker told Wayne later. He said he didn’t want to be bothered by anyone, then hung up.

The number Jimmy gave is out of service. That’s the last time anyone has heard from him.

Jimmy has no family or friends in Whitehorse, Wayne said. He never talked about heading north to the Yukon or Alaska. He doesn’t travel at all because he gets stressed out easily.

When his mother drives him to the hospital for appointments, it’s an ordeal for him, Wayne said. It doesn’t make sense that his brother got on an airplane and flew to Whitehorse.

“It’s strange,” he said. “He’s never done this before.”

Wayne said his brother recently began dating a woman, and perhaps she helped him get to the Yukon. The family hasn’t met her, and only knows her as “Lisa.”

Jimmy is religious, he said. He attends church and Al-Anon meetings regularly, and likes reading the Bible.

Wayne dropped by some of these meetings in Red Deer, but there was no sign of Jimmy.

Now he’s turning his attention to Whitehorse. Wayne has called churches, the hospital, the Salvation Army and pharmacies here – his brother’s prescriptions haven’t been refilled, he said.

Wayne said his brother has had rough times in the past when he’s stopped taking his medications.

“He’s had his moments where he felt that he’s been cured,” he said. “He goes off them, and it takes him about three to four days and he goes on a really bad episode.

“He gets pretty sick from just quitting his medications cold turkey.”

He said Jimmy struggled with alcohol in his early 20s, when he went to college and partied too hard. But he hasn’t seen his brother drink in years, he said.

“He’s a pretty straightforward guy. Just smokes like a chimney.”

If Jimmy doesn’t turn up by the end of the week, Wayne, an Edmonton police officer, said he’ll probably come to Whitehorse and search for him himself.

“I just want to find him. Just to make sure he’s OK,” he said.

Red Deer RCMP confirmed this morning Jimmy has not yet been located, and Whitehorse RCMP have been advised of his disappearance.

The local detachment did not respond to requests for comment before press time this afternoon.

Jimmy is travelling with Patches, a small, friendly, black and white dog (not pictured here).

Anyone who sees Jimmy is asked to call 667-5555 or 1-800-222-8477.