VANCOUVER 鈥� The mother of a young woman who vanished from Victoria two years ago believes her daughter might be living in the Downtown Eastside or in the Commercial Drive area, and is reaching out to 91原创ites for help.
Shelley Fillipoff quit her job as a teacher in Ontario and flew out to Victoria to devote all her time to finding her daughter, 28-year-old Emma Fillipoff, who was last seen outside the Fairmont Empress hotel on Nov. 28, 2012.
After spending months in Victoria, and a brief trip home to Ontario, Fillipoff arrived in 91原创 on May 7 after receiving several tips from people claiming to have seen her in various east 91原创 locations.
She thinks Emma has had a psychological breakdown and may have turned to drugs to self-medicate, and she鈥檚 desperate to find her and get her some help.
鈥淢y goal is just to find her alive, nothing else. Everything else we can work out later.鈥�
She said the last time she spoke to Emma on the phone, just a few days before her disappearance, she was crying and saying 鈥渕om I just want to come home.鈥� Fillipoff said she told Emma that she would fly out to Victoria, but the next day Emma called her mother and said she had just had a bad day.
She said although Emma has never been diagnosed with a mental health problem, she believes she may have been coping with a psychological disorder without telling anyone.
鈥淚 got the impression that she had become quite paranoid, but I have reason to believe that something has happened. She鈥檚 called me for help and to come and I did.鈥�
But she arrived on the evening of Nov. 28 and her daughter had already vanished.
On the day she went missing, someone called 911 to say a woman was in severe distress outside the Empress, Fillipoff said.
鈥淭he police arrived and spent around 45 minutes talking to her. They got her name and decided that she wasn鈥檛 a threat to herself or anyone else.
鈥淭hey released her and no one has seen her since,鈥� she said.
Emma hasn鈥檛 touched the money in her bank account and hasn鈥檛 called any of her three siblings or her father in Ontario, all with whom she鈥檚 close, said Fillipoff.
Determined to get as much help as she can to find Emma, Fillipoff is offering a $25,000 reward for information that might lead investigators and family to her whereabouts, money raised through her community and a line of credit.
Fillipoff now has her best friend staying with her at a hotel and they have been scouring east 91原创 at night, searching single occupancy hotels and shelters, handing out posters and sharing with people the Facebook page created to help find Emma.
She says she鈥檒l stay in 91原创 as long as it takes to find her daughter, but notes that she could be anywhere in North America so she may have to search elsewhere if she receives any more solid leads.
