Disappearance Of Emma Fillipoff

2021-08-29 17:27:16 Written by Katherine

Emma Fillipoff (born January 6, 1986) has been missing since Nov 28, 2012, disappearing from in front of the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, at the age of 26.

Fillipoff arrives in Victoria in the fall of 2011 from Perth, Ontario. She had brief employment at the Red Fish Blue Fish seasonal seafood restaurant in Victoria's Inner Harbour. Since the work was seasonal she left the job on October 31, 2012. She assured co-workers she would be back in the spring.

 

Fillipoff wrote copious prose about her time in Victoria. None of it suggested that she was being stalked. Even though some of it indicated she was depressed, experts who appeared on The Fifth Estate said the writing did not have the hallmarks of suicide. According to Fillipoff's mother, however, the Sandy Merriman staff claimed that Emma "required both physical and medical intervention."

 

In what police think was preparing to move back to Ontario, on November 21 Fillipoff hired a tow truck and driver to tow her Mazda from Sooke to the Chateau Victoria parking garage. Unknown to her family, Fillipoff had stayed at the Sandy Merriman House women's shelter on and off since February. On November 23, Fillipoff was captured on security footage at the Victoria YMCA, entering, then leaving, then entering many times as if probably avoiding someone on the outside.

In the days preceding her disappearance, Fillipoff had phoned her mother in Ontario, asking if she could come home, and was told: "of course". Each time her tone would rapidly change and Emma would then ask her mother not to come. On the final call, her mother became aware that Emma had been staying at the Sandy Merriman house, and even though Emma had asked her not to come, she made plans to fly out instantly. Emma's last words to her mom were, "I don't know how I can face you." Emma's mother arrived at Sandy MMerriman'shouse at about 11:00 pm on the 28th, three hours after Emma had been last seen by police at the Empress Hotel.

 

Early on November 28, Fillipoff had been captured on a 7-Eleven store video on Government Street purchasing a pre-paid cell phone. The video showed her hesitating in departing the store, seemingly checking the street outside. She returned to the 7-Eleven store to buy a pre-paid credit card for $200. Reportedly, she left the Sandy Merriman House women's shelter at about 6:00 p.m. that day. Soon after, she hailed a taxi and asked to be taken to the airport; however, she soon exited the taxi for lack of adequate fare, even though she had the $200 prepaid card. Minutes 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 came, took Emma's name, and spent 45 minutes speaking with her. Deciding that she was not a threat to herself or anyone else, they released her; no one has reported seeing Emma since 8:00 pm that night. Later that evening, police met Fillipoff's mother at Sandy Merriman House; by midnight Emma was categorized as a missing person.

 

Originally, the police told that Emma had last been seen, "with friends several blocks away on Burdett Avenue between Blanshard and Quadra streets." The Empress location and early police interest were not mentioned until The Fifth Estate story about the case in the Times Colonist — in February 2013.

Detectives explored more than 200 leads, turning up minimal information. Most proof indicates she was planning to return home to Ottawa, but there was no evidence that she ever left the city. The cell phone she bought had never been activated.

 

The credit card was allegedly found on the side of the road near the Juan de Fuca Community Centre, north of where Fillipoff vanished. It was found by a stranger, whose use of the card to purchase cigarettes was tracked by police.

 

The Campbell River Courier-Islander newspaper reported in May 2014 that Gastown, Vancouver, business owners Joel and Lori Sellen witnessed a man in their store throwing out a $25,000 missing person reward poster for Fillipoff. The pair reported that the man said, "It's one of those missing person posters, except she's not missing, she's my girlfriend and she ran away 'cause she hates her parents." The owners quickly called the police. Although the security video captured an image of the man, he has yet to be recognized.