The family of a missing Surrey teenager are growing increasingly concerned – and increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress in the police investigation – as the number of days since his disappearance increases.

Joseph Maku was last seen by his younger siblings outside their home on 130th Street, near 96th Avenue, on Oct. 22, according to his sister Brenda Maku.

Joseph had just returned from an errand and told his siblings he was going out again and would be back, Brenda said.

“After that, he didn’t come back,” she said.

Joseph, 18, who was in his first semester of a kinesiology program at UBC, did not attend classes the day he disappeared, Brenda said, adding that this made her believe he wasn’t going anywhere that day.

She began to worry, she said, shortly after her mother — who works night shifts — left for work that evening.

“Suddenly it’s midnight, and that’s when the alarm bells started ringing,” Brenda said. “That’s when I was like, ‘OK, no, this is actually really weird. What’s going on?'”

Joseph wasn’t answering his phone, and he still hasn’t. Around 2 a.m., Brenda called the police and reported him missing.

She said her brother’s sudden disappearance was unlike her.

“Joseph is always the type to tell us, before he leaves, where he’s going,” Brenda said.

Surrey RCMP are investigating Joseph’s disappearance. They issued a news release Oct. 25 asking the public to help in their search, but so far, Brenda said, the family has received relatively little information about the missing teen.

She said the family received some advice after putting up posters in the first days after Joseph’s disappearance, but the amount of information from police and the public was decreasing in recent days.

“It’s definitely getting more frustrating and more difficult,” she said. “I think as time goes by and we get less information, I find myself becoming even more agitated, to the point where I can’t even concentrate on my studies or anything I don’t even want to go to work because I feel very sick and very anxious.”

Brenda described her brother as outgoing and adventurous, a curious, intelligent and sociable young man who – at 6’5” – seemed unable to blend into a crowd or disappear without a trace.

She said her message to the community was twofold, thanking them for the support they have shown the Maku family so far and asking them to keep Joseph’s name in the public eye as much as possible.

“We need to continue to say something because it will let the police know that Joseph is loved by so many people and his name should not disappear,” Brenda said. “We want him to come home as soon as possible.”

For her brother, she had a different message.

“Joseph, I hope you know that a lot of people love you and a lot of people care for you,” she said. “We’re just concerned about your well-being and we just want you to be safe.”

Police describe Maku as a black man with black hair and brown eyes. He is 6’5″ tall and weighs 200 pounds, and he was last seen wearing a black hoodie, “black North Delta Huskies basketball shorts”, and black and white basketball shoes .

Anyone with information on Maku’s whereabouts should call Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 and quote file number 2024-157805, police said.