- 3 hours ago
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:00:28The
00:00:29The first phone call I received from Emma was on a Friday. It was in the middle of the night.
00:00:39I had just had a bit of a nerve-wracking conversation with one of my other children who was having
00:00:49a rough time.
00:00:52So I was already stressed and finding it difficult to get back to sleep. As a matter of fact, I
00:01:00couldn't go back to sleep.
00:01:05So when the phone rang in the middle of the night again, I just assumed it was my other child
00:01:13calling again.
00:01:17And it wasn't. It was Emma. It was Emma calling.
00:01:25She was crying and she was saying that she wanted to come home. Could she come home?
00:01:36I said, Emma, you have a home. This is your home. This will always be your home.
00:01:44I was trying to calm her down because I wouldn't say she was hysterical, but she was crying a lot.
00:01:52She was really, really distraught.
00:01:56And I wanted to calm her down. So I said, when we get off the phone, Emma, I can't wait
00:02:02to go tell Oscar that you're coming home.
00:02:06Oscar was the one that she loved the most out of the three brothers. And she said, through tears, she
00:02:14said, you don't have to do that. Oscar will already know.
00:02:22It was very Emma. It was very Emma for her to say something like that.
00:02:33I resisted crying on the phone because I didn't think that would be of help to Emma. I wanted to
00:02:39cry. I did not.
00:02:49I stayed up the rest of the night.
00:03:09The next morning I was supposed to tutor a student, but because of that phone call, and I had a
00:03:17feeling I would hear from Emma again and soon,
00:03:25I asked the father that he bring his son here to tutor, and when they arrived for the tutoring session,
00:03:34the phone rang again, and it was Emma, and so I indicated to the father that there was an issue,
00:03:44and so he took his son and said, never mind, we know we'll do this again next weekend.
00:03:53So I spoke to Emma.
00:03:55So I spoke to Emma. She wasn't in tears, but she was very distraught. I could tell that there was
00:04:00something very, very wrong, but I didn't know what, and I couldn't ask her because I knew she wouldn't have
00:04:06vaulted, and I thought it might alienate her to some extent and push her away, so I didn't ask what
00:04:11was wrong.
00:04:13I said to her, I said, I booked a ticket to come to Victoria to see you, and she said,
00:04:22no, no, no, don't come. Don't come. I don't need you to come. I just needed to talk to you.
00:04:27Please, please don't come.
00:04:30So, respecting that wish, against my better judgment, I cancelled my flight.
00:04:51The next phone call was Sunday, and we were back to she wanted to come home.
00:05:00Only this time she added that she needed help to come home. She said, I can't do it on my
00:05:06own. She said, I have a van that I need to sell or get fixed up.
00:05:11Maybe I could drive it back. Maybe you could fly one way. We could drive the van back to Ontario.
00:05:19I have so much stuff. I have precious things, Mom. I can't do without them. They have to come with
00:05:25me, and I said, well, I think probably driving the van, if it's not working now, it's probably not the
00:05:32best idea to drive across country in it.
00:05:35We would probably fly, and she said, but I have too many things in it. She said, I have a
00:05:40trunk. I have books. I have pictures. I have Grandpa's old comforter.
00:05:48So, she said, I can't. I said, well, we can take a lot on the plane, and the rest we
00:05:52can ship, Emma. We can work it out. We can work it out. No, don't come. Then, yes, okay, maybe
00:06:00come. I need help.
00:06:02She wavered. You could tell that she wanted not to need help. So, I said that I would come, and
00:06:14that's where we left it on that phone call.
00:06:17And then there was another phone call.
00:06:23I hadn't left yet. My suitcases were packed.
00:06:28And it was, don't come. I'm figuring things out.
00:06:34I may need you to come later, but right now I've got things to figure out.
00:06:39So, I don't want you to come.
00:06:40I don't want you to come.
00:06:43So,
00:06:46my heart was just,
00:06:49it was just broken.
00:06:51I just,
00:06:54the pain I felt for Emma,
00:06:56for what she must have been going through,
00:06:58was,
00:06:59was almost insurmountable.
00:07:08By that time,
00:07:09I chose to talk to my other children,
00:07:11and to my husband,
00:07:13my ex-husband.
00:07:17And the opinion was unanimous.
00:07:20And the opinion was,
00:07:23if Emma's last words were,
00:07:24don't come,
00:07:25then you need to respect
00:07:27those wishes.
00:07:29You are too,
00:07:34forthright.
00:07:35You are too,
00:07:36determined.
00:07:38You are,
00:07:40hurting.
00:07:41You are hurting for Emma.
00:07:43Emma doesn't want you to come.
00:07:46You can't go.
00:07:47She probably won't even see you.
00:07:49She'll probably turn you away.
00:07:52In one of the phone calls,
00:07:53I suggested to Emma,
00:07:55that I come to Victoria,
00:07:58and I'm going to bring some books.
00:08:00And I said,
00:08:01you know how rough teaching is,
00:08:02and how tired I always am,
00:08:03and stressed,
00:08:04and exhausted.
00:08:05So I'm going to bring a couple of books,
00:08:07and I'm going to let you know,
00:08:09what hotel I'm in,
00:08:10and what my room number is.
00:08:12And if you decide that you want to see me,
00:08:15or you want my help,
00:08:16I will already be in Victoria.
00:08:19I thought that was a fabulous solution.
00:08:21Emma did not think that was a good solution,
00:08:23at all.
00:08:24She did not like that at all.
00:08:25She didn't want,
00:08:26she clearly didn't want me in the city,
00:08:28during this,
00:08:30at this point.
00:08:33So,
00:08:34cancel the flight,
00:08:36didn't unpack my suitcase.
00:08:40Something told me that there was going to be a point
00:08:43at which I would be going to Victoria.
00:08:47Knowing that either she was going to give me the okay,
00:08:51or I was just going to go.
00:08:54Because by then,
00:08:55I am frantic.
00:09:05And when that came up on my caller display,
00:09:08I thought Sandy Merriman was a friend.
00:09:11So the first time,
00:09:12I didn't think too much of it,
00:09:14and I thought,
00:09:15well,
00:09:15don't call her back.
00:09:16Let her,
00:09:17she's calling you.
00:09:18She's calling you.
00:09:18Don't,
00:09:19don't interfere with that.
00:09:20Don't,
00:09:20don't be pushy.
00:09:22She's called you.
00:09:24She's going to call you again.
00:09:25So don't call.
00:09:28But on the second time,
00:09:30that she called from there,
00:09:32I thought,
00:09:34I'm going to call.
00:09:36I'm going to take that chance.
00:09:38I'm going to take that risk.
00:09:40She may be angry with me.
00:09:42She'll be upset with me.
00:09:43But I'm going to do that.
00:09:44So I called back that number.
00:09:50And they answered,
00:09:51Sandy Merriman's shelter for women.
00:09:54And that's when I discovered
00:09:55she was staying at a shelter.
00:10:03They weren't allowed to divulge much.
00:10:08I asked if Emma was safe.
00:10:15And they said that Emma was safe.
00:10:21I said,
00:10:23do you think I should come to Victoria?
00:10:29And their response was something like,
00:10:32well,
00:10:33we can't really advise you.
00:10:40staying put and staying home was so difficult
00:10:44because all I wanted to do was go
00:10:47and hold her and help her.
00:10:52I talked to the kids and James again,
00:10:54and they said,
00:10:55you just can't go.
00:10:56You just can't go,
00:10:57Mom,
00:10:57and please,
00:10:58please don't go.
00:10:59And I deferred to them
00:11:01because I really felt
00:11:03that James
00:11:05and the other kids
00:11:07knew Emma
00:11:09better than I knew Emma.
00:11:17I knew about her need for privacy.
00:11:20I knew that secrecy
00:11:22had kind of snuck in
00:11:24and increased the privacy
00:11:26because of the emails
00:11:29and not phoning very often
00:11:30and that kind of thing.
00:11:33but I didn't feel
00:11:34that I really
00:11:36understood Emma
00:11:37as much as
00:11:39her siblings did
00:11:40and her dad
00:11:41because she was so close to her dad.
00:11:43So close.
00:11:45So I followed their advice.
00:11:47I followed their advice.
00:11:50I followed their advice.
00:12:04I followed my advice.
00:12:04I love it.
00:12:04I love it.
00:12:08I love it.
00:12:35On Wednesday morning the 28th of November,
00:12:39at about seven o'clock my time so four o'clock Emma's time the phone rings and it's Emma
00:12:48and she says the following she says don't come not today mum she hung up the phone
00:13:01that was it
00:13:06I got on the first plane I could my suitcase hadn't been unpacked I flew up to Victoria
00:13:36so
00:13:50you
00:13:51you
00:13:53you
00:13:55you
00:14:11I arrived at the airport about 9 o'clock in that night, B.C. time.
00:14:19I got my luggage, grabbed a taxi.
00:14:29So I got there, and it was all very hush-hush, and, you know, 11 o'clock, somebody ringing their
00:14:36bell and stuff, and I explained who I was, so they said, okay, and they let me in. The taxi
00:14:41left.
00:14:44The night-time supervisor was there, and I said, so what do you think? Should I wake Emma up, or
00:14:52should I wait? And she said, Emma's not here. She didn't come for her bed.
00:15:04I didn't panic at all, because I thought, she's 26, it's 11 o'clock. It's not 3 o'clock in
00:15:11the morning. She's not 14.
00:15:15Of course she could be out.
00:15:20So she said, the supervisor said, let's go up to my office and talk.
00:15:27That set off all kinds of lights.
00:15:31I thought, why are we going upstairs to talk? Why are we going someplace really private to talk?
00:15:38That struck me as very odd.
00:15:43I didn't lose my composure.
00:15:46I was on edge.
00:15:48I didn't know why we were doing that.
00:15:51We went upstairs.
00:15:54She said, Emma
00:15:56hasn't been well.
00:15:59There are issues with Emma.
00:16:03I said, oh,
00:16:06okay.
00:16:07And then all those phone calls started playing in my head, and the tears, and the come, and the don't
00:16:12come, and everything.
00:16:17And then, just like that, she said, I think we should call the police.
00:16:24Well, then I just, I didn't know exactly what was wrong with Emma, of course, but I knew that it
00:16:35had to be really, really serious for her to say, let's call the police.
00:16:43So she called the police, and two police officers came, and the three of them decided that she should be
00:16:50designated a missing person.
00:16:57So my perception was, well, why are they designating her a missing person because she missed her bed once?
00:17:08Why would you be alarmed?
00:17:10I mean, I was alarmed because I'd had the phone calls, but I couldn't understand why they were so alarmed.
00:17:18Alarmed enough to call the police and designate her a missing person.
00:17:22That was serious.
00:17:25And then I started thinking, all kinds of horrible things.
00:17:31I didn't know what to do.
00:17:35One of the police officers said, the best thing you can do is get a hotel room, and we'll go
00:17:42looking for her on the streets.
00:17:47There was a hotel directly across from the shelter.
00:17:52So I said, I'll take my luggage over there, and I'll check in and get a room.
00:17:57I said, and then I'm going looking for my daughter.
00:17:59And they said, absolutely not.
00:18:02The streets of Victoria aren't safe.
00:18:04You shouldn't be wandering alone.
00:18:05The next thing you know, there's going to be a second missing person.
00:18:12We strongly advise you not to.
00:18:14If we see you on the street, we will probably request that you get in the car and that we
00:18:20take you back to your hotel.
00:18:22We don't want to see you on the street.
00:18:30So, I foolishly, and that's in retrospect,
00:18:35I foolishly thought that there would be a significant effort on the part of the police
00:18:43to find this young woman who suddenly is designated a missing person.
00:18:48Things are so serious.
00:18:50Things that I'm not aware of have escalated to the point that they decide.
00:18:55The supervisor and the police decide.
00:18:59I wasn't really part of the conversation.
00:19:00I was there, but I wasn't really part of the conversation.
00:19:03Decided that she should be considered a missing person.
00:19:09So, I got a hotel room.
00:19:12A room that overlooked the street.
00:19:14So, I could see the shelter from my room.
00:19:18I didn't undress.
00:19:19I got on the bed.
00:19:21Propped up the pillows.
00:19:23And I sat at the window.
00:19:24And I watched the entrance to the Sandy Merriman shelter.
00:19:34One young woman went by.
00:19:36I didn't go to the shelter, but she went by.
00:19:38And I leapt up.
00:19:39I just jumped up.
00:19:40And I thought, oh, that must be Emma.
00:19:43And I was about to run downstairs when I finally saw her closer.
00:19:47And she didn't go near the shelter.
00:19:49Or she bypassed the shelter.
00:19:50And I realized it wasn't Emma.
00:19:51So, I sat up for the night.
00:19:55Watching the shelter door.
00:20:01So, when Emma was reported missing,
00:20:03officers took steps immediately that night.
00:20:07They broadcast her description on air for all the areas.
00:20:10And we sent a message to all the MDTs.
00:20:12That's the mobile computers in the patrol cars themselves.
00:20:15So, officers that night knew who they were looking for.
00:20:21They did a lot of area checks.
00:20:22Checking parks and other locations where people would hang out.
00:20:26They got a picture of Emma, which was added to our patrol briefing.
00:20:30So, the oncoming shift the next morning would have a picture of Emma.
00:20:33They'd know who they were looking for.
00:20:39We checked with area hospitals, all up and down the islands.
00:20:43Checked if they had dealt with Emma or if they had any unknown females or Jane Doe.
00:20:54Victoria police are looking for a missing woman tonight and they're hoping you can help them find her.
00:20:58Her name is Emma Philippoff.
00:21:00She's 26 years old and she was last seen in the 800 block of Burdett Avenue last night.
00:21:05Police say she frequents the downtown area, but she has no history of going missing.
00:21:08She was last seen wearing camouflage pants and was carrying an orange purse.
00:21:14If you see Emma Philippoff or you know her whereabouts, you're asked to contact police.
00:21:26The second day I went back to the shelter.
00:21:29She still wasn't there.
00:21:31I thought I'm going to walk the streets because I'm going to go around the corner and I'm going to
00:21:35run into Emma.
00:21:36I'm going to check coffee shops.
00:21:38I'm going to check down by the harbor.
00:21:41I'm going to check places that I think Emma might be.
00:21:48I went to the library, I think, even that first day.
00:21:56I went back to the shelter to talk to them and get some advice.
00:22:03Whoever I spoke to said, I suggest you start putting up posters.
00:22:12When you start putting up missing posters of your child, you start thinking, there's a lot more to this story.
00:22:24And something is so desperately wrong that it's probably something you can't really fathom.
00:22:34Hi, Emma.
00:22:37Hi, Emma.
00:22:38Hi, Emma.
00:22:40Is there a little one for me over there?
00:22:43This is my Batman.
00:22:46We'll take a picture.
00:22:49Because she got to a stage where she was reticent to have her picture taken,
00:22:56I had very few adult pictures of Emma.
00:23:01And out there with me, I had none.
00:23:05So I said to them, I said, well, I don't have a single picture.
00:23:09They said, well, we have one picture.
00:23:13So that would have been the first time that she had gone to the shelter.
00:23:17It was the only picture I had.
00:23:22And then I discovered, much to my dismay, that in Victoria, you can't just put posters up just anywhere.
00:23:30I didn't know that.
00:23:32So I was putting up Emma's poster on every pole.
00:23:36I went into restaurants, went into stores.
00:23:40So as I was putting up posters, the town bylaw officer, I guess, was systematically taking them all down.
00:23:51I continued to approach restaurants, stores, bars, pubs, you name it, I approached them.
00:24:00Some were very great about it and said, I will put it right in the door.
00:24:05And some places said, staff bathroom or staff room.
00:24:14One of the places that wouldn't put on the poster of Emma, anywhere but in the staff room or in
00:24:19the staff bathroom, was the library.
00:24:22Where Emma frequented.
00:24:24Emma frequented the library daily, sometimes for hours.
00:24:34So then I guess my next step was to get in touch with friends of Emma's from home and asking
00:24:43for pictures.
00:24:45So at last I had some colour photos.
00:25:03I'm thinking by then, a really kind young man called James stepped into my life.
00:25:12And he had seen the poster.
00:25:15And on the poster, of course, was my email.
00:25:18So he emailed me and said, I don't know who you are, but I don't know why you think Emma's
00:25:27missing.
00:25:28But Emma's not missing.
00:25:31Emma can't be missing.
00:25:32She's not missing.
00:25:33You're mistaken.
00:25:34Like aggressive almost.
00:25:36Like what's wrong with you?
00:25:38So I responded and I said, dear James, I'm Emma's mum.
00:25:44I spoke to Emma quite a few times before I came to Victoria.
00:25:49And she had asked me to come out and then nod and I explained the situation to him.
00:25:53I said, I really feel that something is seriously wrong.
00:26:00And the police had designated her a missing person as well.
00:26:04So he said, oh.
00:26:09When she first went missing, the way that I found out was a friend of mine takes her missing poster
00:26:17to my door, my apartment.
00:26:20And the first thing I thought was, oh no, it's just a jealous boyfriend.
00:26:25He just doesn't understand.
00:26:26She wants to live free and like she doesn't want commitments and she just doesn't want to have a phone.
00:26:32She just wants to get away.
00:26:33That was my first really strong feeling of like, this is just a silly, jealous boyfriend.
00:26:39And then I found out it was her mum.
00:26:42Then I was like, oh, well maybe somehow, maybe it is more serious, you know.
00:26:48But that was my initial gut feeling.
00:26:53I met him probably the next day.
00:26:56And I think he came to the hotel lobby.
00:26:58I think that's where we met.
00:27:02Not that much longer after, he invited his friend Sever Bronny, who's a Canadian author, to join us.
00:27:11So James and Sever were best friends.
00:27:13I believe that James was the best man at Sever's wedding.
00:27:18Either he invited Sever or he told them about what was going on and Sever said, I maybe can help.
00:27:24Can I help?
00:27:26So Sever and I and James worked as a team.
00:27:32We started meeting at different coffee shops and we planned our strategies.
00:27:41I handed out posters for them to poster, to hand out.
00:27:44We continued creating Emma's Facebook page.
00:27:48James and Sever saved my life out there because I'm not great with computers.
00:27:57I'm also geographically impaired.
00:28:00So I found that their knowledge of the city and their ability to create little maps for us to use
00:28:08to say, okay, you're going to go here and I'm going to go there was beyond helpful.
00:28:13Now, no one had a car.
00:28:16It wasn't safe because I would never have my eyes on the road.
00:28:20I'd have my eyes on the sidewalk looking for Emma.
00:28:22So I never rented a car.
00:28:24So everywhere we went, we went on foot.
00:28:28But that was advantageous because on your way to a location, of course, we looked, we searched, right?
00:28:37I went with two women who offered to drive me around to different locations.
00:28:46So I myself went to a number of the small islands around Victoria and a lot of them just had
00:28:54a general store, one restaurant, you know, that type of thing.
00:28:58And everybody was very friendly and helpful and caring and said, yes, we'll put up a poster and leave some
00:29:06posters and we'll hand them out to people that we know that, you know, move around a bit.
00:29:13That's how we spread the news on the islands.
00:29:20So as the investigation went on, we were speaking with Emma's mom, Shelly.
00:29:26She was running her own sort of parallel investigation and doing what she could to find her daughter.
00:29:30And she was sharing all the information she received at the time.
00:29:34So we were taking those leads and investigating those points as well.
00:29:38One of the things we found was Emma's van, which we went through and found some of her possessions and
00:29:43things like her journals, which we were able to read through, trying to develop leads as to what was going
00:29:48on with Emma at the time and where she might have been.
00:29:53I discovered that Emma had a van that the police had confiscated and it appeared that all her belongings were
00:30:03in it.
00:30:06They said that they had to have the van first because right away I wanted to get into it and
00:30:12see what I could find and see if there were any clues.
00:30:15They said no, it needed to go through forensic testing and fingerprinting and so it was a while before I
00:30:24had access to her van.
00:30:32Tips and information started to trickle into the Help Find Emma Philopoff Facebook page and among the messages that I
00:30:41got, a number of them were of sightings of Emma on the day she went missing.
00:30:48Is that a little bit more comfortable on the bed?
00:31:40She got a notice saying that the van needed to be moved so she went and she pleaded with
00:31:45them to please let her have another day, which they did, and actually I spoke to the manager
00:31:54or assistant manager at the Chateau Victoria and she was very nice and she was very understanding
00:32:01and she gave me the feeling that she felt very bad that Emma had even received a notice
00:32:09that she had to move.
00:32:27She was very sad.
00:32:27She was very sad and she was very sad.
00:32:27She was very sad and she was very sad and she had to be with her.
00:33:20I was very surprised that Emma made those what I considered unusual purchases at 7-eleven
00:33:25for her because I did discover that she had money in her bank account so I couldn't begin
00:33:32to fathom why should we get a prepaid credit card
00:34:29I was very surprised at that she had money in her bank account and I was very surprised
00:37:04One was a man and his daughter working at the Nutka Centre and they were somewhat aware
00:37:09of Emma because of her presence in Victoria so they kind of knew Emma and they had seen
00:37:15her and they had commented on the way she was walking, being barefoot and kind of shuffling.
00:37:27My daughter and I both saw Emma that morning come into the entrance facing the Empress Hotel
00:37:32and noticed her wander past us a couple of times going in and out of the building.
00:37:41I first saw her and she captured my attention like in the business that we do like painting
00:37:48windows, we see people come and go like all day long, right?
00:37:52So, but she captured my attention because she seemed a little confused.
00:38:01I'm an artist and so I do window art, so like Christmas window scenes and like the scenes
00:38:11that I do when I was doing the business was all like white landscape winter wonderland type
00:38:18of sceneries.
00:38:22And it's like she wasn't coming in to like often people come in, oh nice work, oh that looks
00:38:27good what you guys are doing as an artist.
00:38:30But it's like she was oblivious to the fact that we were even there.
00:38:38But I just saw her and we're painting away my daughter and I and I sort of didn't pay
00:38:48attention to anything until I started seeing her like coming back out and back forth and
00:38:53back out kind of thing.
00:38:55A few times and I noticed her I'm going hmm there's something going on here.
00:38:59Is she okay, right?
00:39:03And she started like looking out, out from the door and then went up into the court somewhere
00:39:12and then like a couple of minutes later came back to the door and went outside again.
00:39:18And it's like she was looking around and then came back in.
00:39:22She was walking not with normal big steps or immediately, it's almost like she was walking
00:39:28with small steps, taking three, four steps and then sort of stopping, looking, and then going
00:39:37back a little bit.
00:39:39Two, three quick little steps and then stopping and then coming back and that sort of thing,
00:39:45right?
00:39:45It was just totally not normal.
00:39:49It almost looked like she was, I don't know if she was evading somebody or, you know, it's
00:39:58a mix of, she seemed very confused, disorientated, and she didn't seem like she was scared.
00:40:05She wasn't running, but it's almost like she was looking for someone or something.
00:40:18She seemed like she was lost, you know, lost in her mind, I mean, no, not lost, I don't
00:40:29know where I am, but it seemed like she was lost, should I go left or should I go right
00:40:35or, so you go out and then you come back and you know, like, like what's going on, right?
00:40:52And then she, she seemed to have gone at the other end of the Nootka Korta, going up towards
00:41:01Broughton Street, I believe, and, and then I didn't see her again, come back in, and
00:41:07then we finished the job, and then as we were leaving, we, we went down Broughton, and then
00:41:14we saw her like standing inside of Broughton or Courtney.
00:41:20And so we saw her standing there again.
00:41:29And then I found out later, uh, when she went missing, I go, holy crap, that's, uh, that's
00:41:36Emma, that's the girl we saw, right?
00:41:38So I made my call and, uh, and, and at the time I figured, okay, well, there's cameras in
00:41:44that building.
00:41:45Uh, I thought that, well, the police, if they're investigating her being missing, uh,
00:41:51they should be able to retrieve the camera footage from the Nootka Korta.
00:41:55And I have no idea if they did.
00:42:15One of the, uh, staff members from Redfish Bluefish, um, Ori, ran into Emma on the day she went missing.
00:42:28He met her, she was on the grassy median outside of a, of a drop, kind of a drop-in
00:42:34center called
00:42:34Our Place, and, um, he wanted to talk to her, of course, and, uh, Emma said, uh, I can't
00:42:43talk, I'm having a bad day.
00:42:45And Ori said, can I give you a hug?
00:42:48And Emma retreated, as if she was afraid of Ori, and afraid of him giving her a hug.
00:42:55And she said, I've got to go.
00:42:57And she skirted around him, and she left.
00:42:59And she was carrying a whole lot of bags with her.
00:43:04This was totally uncharacteristic of, of Emma.
00:43:08Emma got along with, with him, certainly.
00:43:12And Emma didn't display a lot of affection, like a lot of hugging or kissing somebody, hello
00:43:19or goodbye.
00:43:20But she was affectionate, and she would definitely, had she been Emma, had she been herself, would
00:43:30have accepted a hug from Ori.
00:43:51She was at Rock Bay the day she went missing.
00:43:56I had seen her many times at the drive-by cafe at the Mustard Seed.
00:44:00We would go out to the streets and serve dinner to anyone who was hungry downtown, and she
00:44:05came to get a wrap, so we knew it was her.
00:44:12So Rock Bay is, um, a downtown Victoria co-ed shelter.
00:44:19Um, it was a shelter that I discovered that Emma did not want to stay in because of the
00:44:26fact that it was co-ed, but apparently she would go there, um, for food.
00:44:46I saw Emma the day she was reported missing, about one o'clock, on Pandora.
00:44:53I was alerted to her state, blankly shuffling down the street.
00:45:00As soon as I saw her on the news, I called the tips number.
00:45:04Yes, she was shuffling, vacant look in her eyes.
00:45:07She had very clean hair, almost like she just washed it.
00:45:11She had white plastic grocery bags over her arms, as well as the orange bag across her
00:45:16chest.
00:45:19I will never forgive myself for not seeing if she needed help.
00:45:45I remember taking the call and thinking, wow, you know, I just spoke to her and she's
00:45:50gone.
00:45:52So on the 28th, November 28th, Emma had called the towing company and wanted to have her
00:46:00van towed to Souk.
00:46:03Um, it never happened.
00:46:06Um, I don't know why, I never found out why.
00:46:10It was an expensive little venture, it was going to be $202.
00:46:15But Emma did have money.
00:46:16Emma did have money.
00:46:18Emma did have money in the account.
00:46:21Emma Filipov had called to have her vehicle towed.
00:46:26And for some reason it didn't work out.
00:46:29Um, I know this because I took the call from her.
00:46:37Some time between two and five, I think I took the call.
00:46:43She wanted her van towed and I know it was somewhere on the west shore.
00:46:51It may have been west coast storage, but I'm not sure.
00:46:54I remember it was a parking lot.
00:46:59I just remember talking about it the next day that there was some reason the vehicle couldn't
00:47:05be towed.
00:47:05I remember discussing payment with her.
00:47:09And after giving her the price, she still wanted it towed.
00:47:16Somebody went to tow it, you know, was dispatched to the call and everything.
00:47:21And I believe that driver spoke with her.
00:47:25And it was at that point either after they tried to tow it or, or they decided, no, it's
00:47:32not going to work, you know, I don't know what it was.
00:47:40And I remember at the time thinking, this young woman sounds very fragile, like just
00:47:47very, um, delicate, very sweet, you know, like, like not, she didn't sound distressed
00:47:57or anything, but just like, I was concerned by how fragile she sounded.
00:48:18The other one that stands out was the man that was driving and he saw Emma.
00:48:24Um, I believe he saw her twice on that day.
00:48:28And one of the times she was attempting to cross the street.
00:48:34Um, I don't know who I should really be talking to, but I saw this girl twice on the day
00:48:40she
00:48:40went missing.
00:48:41I went to Victoria police headquarters the morning that the story was in the times columnist.
00:48:46They took my information, but nobody ever called me back.
00:48:50So here's the info.
00:48:51I saw her twice on the Wednesday late afternoon.
00:48:54I'd say it was between four and 6 PM.
00:48:57It was starting to get dark.
00:48:58I do sponsorships and marketing for the Victoria Grizzlies.
00:49:03So I was down at the base center.
00:49:05As I left out the main Douglas street doors, she crossed my path.
00:49:10And I noticed her mainly the big main of hair.
00:49:13She had coming out of her hood.
00:49:15I was in her car and headed up to Mayfair mall.
00:49:39I'm at the corner of Douglas and Finlayson and here's the same girl from earlier crossing
00:49:44the street in front of my car I just thought of it as funny coincidence she glanced at
00:49:52me as she was crossing so I smiled and what I received back was so sad type of smile you
00:50:01smile when you're holding back tears my immediate reaction was that I felt I should park the car and
00:50:07ask her if she was okay but then I figured that since I'm a 30 year old man that may
00:50:12come across
00:50:12as creepy so I didn't now ever since I saw her in the paper I can't forgive myself for not
00:50:18following
00:50:18my gut instincts anyways she was walking up Douglas I don't think she went into the Mayfair mall because
00:50:25she didn't cut through the parking lot she kept going straight up Douglas I went up the street
00:50:31and I got past it got gas at the shell by uptown if the police find me on the shell
00:50:36station video
00:50:37that day they should be able to find her on cameras going up Douglas I hope this helps don't
00:50:42hesitate to contact me day or night if you need anything that one I remember that one I remember
00:50:56what are your thoughts on this one what do you remember like feeling at the time
00:51:03I remember feeling really hopeful really scared really sad sad that he said that she looked like she was on
00:51:13the verge of tears sad to think that she had wandered all that way up from where she had been
00:51:20earlier
00:51:24here again it says they contacted police it seems like police received an insane amount of calls
00:51:30yeah in one day yeah go figure a and of course they couldn't find her
00:51:39my thought was is this is this like a mental health or does she maybe on something so she doesn't
00:51:46feel
00:51:46the cold like that what stood out was she was with an older man walking barefoot across the crosswalk
00:51:55at bay and quadra she fit exact same description and I did not know about her until the news came
00:52:04on
00:52:05and the only reason I remember her was she was barefoot in November also the fact that she was young
00:52:13and
00:52:13pretty and walking with an older man with gray white hair this man was clearly leading Emma down the road
00:52:21towards fairways on bay street I called Vic PD but they were completely uninterested in what I'd seen
00:52:29like I was just seeking attention
00:52:36they didn't seem to give a crap what like just that oh yeah okay yeah all right thanks
00:52:45she asked a couple questions like what kind of jacket was he wearing
00:52:49and what was the location you know but it was very brief okay thank you and goodbye and I thought
00:52:55maybe they would reach out to me again after that and I'm like well that was rather quick but they
00:53:00never did
00:53:05it was dark I remember that like not pitch black but it was it was dark enough
00:53:15so the first thing I did is that I looked at them they were just
00:53:18I didn't think anything of it it was just a couple couldn't have cared less thought okay
00:53:24and then I looked and I seen that she had bare feet and I was like whoa
00:53:31and I was like it's freezing cold out like what the heck so I got it I took a good
00:53:36look at both of them
00:53:37like what is going on
00:53:40I thought maybe like she needed a little bit of guidance it looked like maybe she was I wouldn't
00:53:46say completely like I don't want to say she was under the influence of anything but she looked like
00:53:52she was a bit vulnerable and the man seemed to kind of be steadying her as he she was kind
00:53:59of like
00:53:59they weren't walking hand in hand but they were walking like close like really side by side
00:54:04and he seemed to be kind of like at one point when they're walking like just kind of steering her
00:54:08just slightly like oh yeah like kind of moving her and she would and she was going so
00:54:14and the way he looked like I just looked at him and I looked at his jack and I looked
00:54:17at him he was an
00:54:18older fellow you had it like a darker blue just kind of like a spring jacket
00:54:27she was kind of looking up at him and chatting and kind of like like like she was like she
00:54:32knew this
00:54:33guy like she was comfortable like she knew him she was like you know she didn't appear like all upset
00:54:39or anything like that she but but um you know like a bit animated with him kind of chit chatty
00:54:47standing there while we were waiting for the light and then he was just kind of like
00:54:53and then let's go
00:54:57and and the closest that I can say that he looked like was that um guide off that that movie
00:55:04just
00:55:04the slim build kind of white thinning hair but his was like kind of like a bit scraggly like long
00:55:11I'll pull up one that I thought that came to mind when I seen him just his build his body
00:55:17build just
00:55:17kind of that casual very casual like almost like you know like how a professor would would dress if
00:55:25he's going to university he might have a bit of you know frazzled hair but it's just that kind of
00:55:30casual attire that he had on that made me I went gosh he reminds me who is that that reminds
00:55:36I've seen
00:55:36that guy before where is he and I was thinking about it the thing and I'm like oh my gosh
00:55:41that's
00:55:41Brewster and so here I'll just bring it up on my phone I don't know if you can see that
00:55:47only with longer hair thinning because it was white so there's that and then this one
00:55:54only with like stringier hair stringier long white hair
00:56:01he just in my opinion he came across just as kind of this creepy older guy
00:56:06that had an interest in her that's exactly what I thought
00:56:11I could tell he was definitely in control of of the situation like he was completely coherent he
00:56:17didn't look or appear like he was under the influence of anything but very but interested in her
00:56:37I think she said she had been staying with a friend and it didn't work out and so she was
00:56:44checking into the shelter
00:56:48she already had a bed she I think she was there the night before
00:56:56that night I came on about seven or no I came on at about 11 and Shelly arrived when I
00:57:03was on ship
00:57:05and so when I came on we we often just discuss where everybody is if so-and-so's home so
00:57:12-and-so's out
00:57:14you know we go through the list of the women that were staying with us that we know where they're
00:57:17at
00:57:18you know and Emma had been out but then um I was told that she was acting a little bizarre
00:57:26that night like she tried to throw her throw out a vacuum cleaner into the dumpster and I guess one
00:57:32of the
00:57:33staff said you know what are you doing Emma you know that you don't need to throw that out and
00:57:38she
00:57:38would just she apparently they just you know stopped doing that and then then she left not too long after
00:57:44that it was it was bizarre it was like you know not behavior that we didn't normally see from her
00:57:52and we were anticipating her mom to come um to the shelter because she had phoned ahead and said she
00:58:00was she was coming she was on the plane
00:58:34so
00:59:21She came into my work.
00:59:26And so I was helping her with the cell phone transaction.
00:59:33I happened to notice that, you know, she's a little off.
00:59:38She wasn't wearing his shoes.
00:59:44Went through the transaction and tried to help her as much as I can.
01:00:10Because I had thought all along and felt that I actually knew that she had an aversion to cell phones,
01:00:16I couldn't understand why she would be purchasing one.
01:00:34Her hair is loose and wild. I had never seen her hair like that.
01:00:41She looked nervous.
01:00:44She looked distraught, distressed, scared.
01:00:48And again, I mean, this is just a short piece of footage.
01:00:51But I got a very, very bad feel from watching that footage.
01:00:57The footage is just like a movie.
01:01:01The footage is just like a movie.
01:01:02It is just like a movie.
01:01:07And I am a fan of the footage.
01:01:08And I can see it on the footage.
01:01:08I am a fan of the footage.
01:01:26I also remember that she had come in the day before she came in asking about her cell phones.
01:01:37Before those two nights, I had never seen her at all.
01:01:43The first day that she came in inquiring about the cell phones, she seemed pretty normal for the most part.
01:01:57She seemed a little bit frantic, she was looking around the store, she wasn't wearing any shoes, she just had
01:02:08socks on.
01:02:31I didn't really happen to notice that, you know, there's anything too significant by looking her in the eyes.
01:02:39She had issues looking at me directly.
01:02:43¶¶
01:02:45¶¶
01:02:46¶¶
01:03:47I said, hey, that girl was in my car.
01:03:52Bob, the taxi driver who had given Emma a ride, literally around the block in Victoria,
01:04:00he got in touch with me.
01:04:02Once he knew, realized that the young woman he had given a ride to was, in fact, Emma,
01:04:09the woman who was missing.
01:04:10So he got in touch with me and we met for a coffee and we talked.
01:04:18He had a little bit of startling information.
01:04:20He said that she got in the taxi.
01:04:24I was actually parked illegally on the corner of Courtney and Douglas Street, 800 block of
01:04:35Douglas Street.
01:04:39She was standing really confused by the car and then she got in.
01:04:46She walked over and she basically told me she wanted to go to the airport.
01:04:52And I looked at the time and it was kind of an odd time to be going to the airport.
01:04:56So I asked her where she was flying to and she says, I don't know.
01:05:00She didn't have no luggage or anything.
01:05:02That's another thing that threw a flag at me.
01:05:05She just basically had her, I think it was, whatever, she kept her wallet and that in.
01:05:12And she said, you know how much it costs to go to the airport?
01:05:15And she said, no, and I said it was around $60.
01:05:17And she said, oh, that's way too much.
01:05:19Which didn't make sense because she had money in her bank account.
01:05:23She could easily afford to.
01:05:28So what she ended up doing was asking Bob to just drive around the block and come back
01:05:35and drop her at the exact same spot.
01:05:39Like rather than just get out wherever they were, she wanted him to drive around and come
01:05:44back and drop her where he, exactly where he had picked her up, which was a little bit strange.
01:05:52So I took her right back to where I picked her up.
01:06:01I went about three blocks.
01:06:02It was only around the $7 taxi ride.
01:06:08He also said that she asked if she could just sit in the car for a little while,
01:06:13almost as if she was afraid to get out.
01:06:16I don't know what she was afraid of.
01:06:18There are a lot of things like that that make me wonder if she was afraid of a person.
01:06:24Just peering out at the 7-Eleven and coming back in and checking
01:06:29and then not wanting to get out of the taxi.
01:06:39And at one point, she was really upset by the sound coming out of the radio.
01:06:45And I don't remember if it was like a public radio station or if it was his dispatch radio,
01:06:51but she was stressed over the noise that was coming out of one of those radios,
01:06:59which was also a little bit odd.
01:07:06She, to me, she looked like totally confused and like she wasn't there, like she was high on something maybe.
01:07:16I'm not a doctor, so I can't tell, but it wasn't the same girl because I talked to her at
01:07:22the redfish, bluefish a couple of times.
01:07:25During our conversation over coffee, Bob ended up telling me that he knew Emma from around the city
01:07:33and that he knew her from Redfish, Bluefish, the seasonal restaurant where she worked.
01:07:39So he recognized her.
01:07:45I believe that his comment was, she didn't look like the same woman.
01:07:55That's where we noticed her because she was always feeding the seagulls, not the crows.
01:08:03And she always had a picnic bench all the time.
01:08:08When she was on a break, I guess, she would sit on a bench not too far from the restaurant
01:08:14and she would feed the birds, and Bob remembered this.
01:08:19And it wasn't the first time that someone had told me that they had seen Emma feeding birds,
01:08:23not just in that location.
01:08:25She was just known for feeding birds.
01:08:37Today is Friday, July 15th, and Emma has a very special friend with her.
01:08:46Emma, if you come a little bit closer, stay there, and I'll try to focus in to show that,
01:08:53just a minute, Matthew, that Emma has a pet squirrel.
01:08:58The squirrel has decided that he likes living in Emma's shirt,
01:09:02sort of like a mini hammock for him, and he's in there having his breakfast.
01:09:10What's he having for breakfast, Emma?
01:09:12Peanuts and bread, and he didn't eat the lettuce.
01:09:16No, I don't think they're lettuce eaters.
01:09:17But he did, yes.
01:09:19Oh, did he eat the lettuce yesterday?
01:09:21Yep.
01:09:22And there he is.
01:09:26Oh, he is so cute, Emma.
01:09:28Good morning, Emma.
01:09:30Good morning.
01:09:30Reading about these sightings, a scary picture began to form for me.
01:09:36I mean, I was becoming aware of things that were more than unnerving.
01:09:45But the descriptions that I got of Emma on that day were actually very scary.
01:09:53And the picture that it painted was a scary one,
01:09:57where I felt that she was very, very unwell, and that she definitely needed help.
01:10:12And I called the 911 dispatcher, and they're like, fire, police, or ambulance.
01:10:18And I told them, like, well, I'm not really sure if it's ambulance or police.
01:10:21I kind of, like, explained briefly, like, there's a girl I know,
01:10:23and she doesn't seem, like, completely herself.
01:10:26I know I knew her from once before, but something just seemed, like, off,
01:10:29and it's like someone to kind of go on and check with her, like, see if she's okay.
01:10:34And they're like, okay, like, well, like, did she ask for help?
01:10:37I'm like, well, no, but, like, she just seems sort of out of it.
01:10:40She's not wearing her shoes.
01:10:42And I said, like, yeah, we'll send, like, a police car over there to check her out sort of thing.
01:10:46I'm like, okay, sounds good.
01:10:54I remember finding out that the police had spoken to Emma that night,
01:11:01and I remember finding out that it was on record that they spoke with her
01:11:17disheveled, looking distraught, lost, bare feet, clutching her shoes, being interviewed by police.
01:11:28That is in direct opposition to the picture that the other story, the other narrative told.
01:11:37That is in direct opposition to the picture that the other story, the other story, the other story, the other
01:11:44story, the other story, the other story, the other story.
01:11:57So, look.
01:11:58You
Comments