Keaton Ellerby deals with family tragedy as he rejoins Jets
Keaton Ellerby re-signed with the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. It's a one-year, $700,000 deal coming almost a month after the team didn't send him a qualifying offer, making the 25-year old defenseman an unrestricted free agent.
Confirming his return to Winnipeg gave Ellerby something to smile about, if only for a moment.
In late June, Ellerby's uncle, his wife and their five-year old grandson went missing from their Calgary home. On Thursday, he spoke about what his family has been going through.
From Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun:
“There’s not really any words that you can put to it. You watch that stuff on TV and you never think it would happen to your immediate family. It’s still going on. My dad’s side of the family is definitely shaken up about it. It’s not an easy thing to go through.“
You’ve got to stay strong as a family and just hope and pray it comes to an end and you get a little bit of closure.”
After a two-week AMBER Alert, police changed the investigation from missing persons case to a homicide investigation. On July 14, Douglas Garland was charged with two counts of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder.
The three bodies have yet to be found.
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
