Disappearance of Emma Fillipoff

Emma Fillipoff (born January 6, 1986) has been missing since Nov 28, 2012, vanishing from in front of the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, at the age of 26. Disappearance: Fillipoff was last seen in the immediate vicinity of the Empress hotel in Victoria between 7:30-8:30 on November 28, 2012. She was last seen being interviewed by Victoria police. Her red Mazda MPV 1993 van was found in the Chateau Victoria parking lot with almost all her belongings in it, including her passport, library card, digital camera, clothes, a pillow, assorted ornaments, laptop, and recently borrowed library books. It is believed she used the van as storage. Fillipoff's disappearance was the subject of a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television program, The Fifth Estate. Circumstances of disappearance: Fillipoff arrived in Victoria from Ontario in the fall of 2011. She had brief employment at the Red Fish Blue Fish seasonal seafood restaurant in Victoria’s Inner Harbour. She left the job on October 31, 2012, as the work was seasonal, and she assured co-workers she would be back in the Spring. Early in the day of November 28, Fillipoff was captured in a 7-Eleven store video on Government Street purchasing a pre-paid cell phone. She reportedly left the Sandy Merriman House women’s shelter about 6 p.m. later that day. Later, she was seen walking barefoot in front of the Empress hotel. An acquaintance of hers, Dennis Quay, called 911 to say a woman was in severe distress outside the hotel. Victoria police arrived and spent 45 minutes talking to her. They got her name and decided that she was not a threat to herself or anyone else. They released her and no one has seen her since 7:45 pm that night. Investigators explored more than 200 leads, turning up minimal information. Most evidence indicates she was planning to return home to Ottawa, but there’s no proof she ever left the city. She got a credit card only days before her disappearance. The cellphone had never been activated. The credit card, however, was allegedly found on the side of the road by a stranger to the north of where Fillipoff disappeared, whom the police tracked by the purchase of cigarettes with the card. Possible leads: The Campbell River Courier-Islander newspaper reported in May 2014 that Gastown, Vancouver store owners Joel and Lori Sellen witnessed a man in their store throwing out a “missing” poster. The store owners reported that it was a $25,000 reward poster for Fillipoff, and that the man said: "It’s one of those missing persons posters, except she’s not missing, she’s my girlfriend and she ran away ‘cause she hates her parents." The owners immediately called the police, and security video captured an image of the man.