Yellowknife (Dec 22/06) - The story might not be new, but to the father who is searching the city for the missing son he fears he has lost to drugs, it will always be difficult to believe.

Greg Morris searches for his son on the streets of Yellowknife. He fears he has lost him to a life of drugs and crime. He has a plane ticket in hand, and hopes his son will return home with him. - Christine Grimard/NNSL photo

Greg Morris' 24-year-old son, whom he wished to remain anonymous, was once a rising baseball star. He was bright, and he was popular in school.

As a left-handed pitcher who could also catch and hit, Morris' son was on his way to a professional baseball career.

"Baseball was his passion," said Morris.

In his son's final year in a program for rising baseball stars in B.C., he was scouted by every team who came to watch them play.

But his baseball dreams would soon come to a halt. Although Morris said he could never tell for sure if it was the drugs, he saw a pattern of increased substance abuse as his son's career plans dropped off his priority list.

Perhaps it was the people to whom his son looked up.

"His role models weren't necessarily law abiding tax payers," said Morris, but rather rap stars who idealized a life of drugs and crime.

"He's never had a good relationship with the police," said Morris.

What Morris knows for sure is that he hasn't seen his son in years, and hasn't heard from him in the last three months.

"We don't know if he's dead or alive," he said.

His son is 6'3", 180 lbs, has blue eyes, reddish-blond hair and a tattoo on his upper left arm.

Morris would like to ask his son to please contact the family, as his mother Pauline, sister Amanda, and brother Matthew are all worried about him and miss him dearly.

Morris said his son came up North two or three years ago. Having not heard from him in a while, Morris had no clue where to search for him until he got a tip last Monday that he was in Yellowknife.

On Tuesday, he booked one plane ticket to Yellowknife, and two plane tickets home to St. Albert in the hope that he could locate his son and convince him to come home.

"I don't see him having a life if he stays in this environment," said Morris. "Drugs are killing him."

Morris said he and his wife have tried to set a good example for their son. Morris works in an organization providing assistance to people with disabilities, and his wife does the same in the school system.

So far Morris hasn't had any luck finding his son. He has searched the city daily, and although he said he has seen the glint of recognition in some to whom he has spoken of his son, no one has given him any help as to where to find him.

Morris might have to leave Yellowknife with only an extra plane ticket at his side.