'Her heart's broken:' family of Mathew Dahl raising money for his partner, kids

It was the call the family of Mathew Dahl hoped they wouldn’t receive: that police had found his body.

On Saturday afternoon, police found Dahl’s body in the area where his vehicle had previously been found.

The 32-year-old Regina man was reported missing nearly a month earlier on March 10. He had last been seen a couple days earlier

The news was devastating to his family.

“Her heart’s broken,” said Caitlin Knaus of her husband’s sister Courtney Sandhoff, Dahl’s partner. “You always have hope that he’s still going to be out there and that he’s going to make his way back home so when she found out he wasn’t coming home, she’s quite devastated.”

Sandhoff and Dahl had a son together, Sylas, and another baby due in July.

“Mathew was a great dad,” Knaus said. “Seeing him with Sylas was incredible. They had a phenomenal bond and knowing now that he’s going to miss out on watching his boys grow up is extremely devastating.”

Knaus said the stress of Dahl’s disappearance – and being more than halfway through the pregnancy – has made it difficult for Sandhoff to work.

“Courtney’s been extremely worried and stressed out and sad over this past month,” she explained. “Working has been extremely difficult. She would leave crying on a number of occasions.”

Knaus said that prompted Sandhoff’s doctor to put her on medical leave.

“She just really needs to focus on healing herself and being strong for her boys because they really need her right now.”

That’s why Knaus started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for her sister-in-law and her growing family. She wanted to help mitigate the financial stress of medical leave then maternity leave.

“You’re always going to be worried about someone you love losing someone that they love,” Knaus explained. “I try to tell her that I’ll be there for her to support her in any way that I can. I’m trying to do that through this GoFundMe page.”

In 20 hours, the fund raised almost $4,000. Knaus set the goal at $20,000.

“It’s kind of overwhelming seeing the community help someone in one of the worst days of their live, in their darkest place,” she said Monday.

Knaus added there are talks of hosting an event, such as a steak night, but said no plans were concrete.