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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.
00:11:52I followed their advice.
00:12:29Finally, on Wednesday morning, the 28th of November, at about 7 o'clock my time, so
00:12:424 o'clock Emma's time, the phone rings, and it's Emma, and she says the following, she says,
00:12:52don'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
00:13:09Victoria.
00:14:09I got on the first plane, she says, don't come, not today.
00:14:12I arrived at the airport about 9 o'clock in that night, B.C. time.
00:14:19I got my luggage, grabbed a taxi.
00:14:28So I got there, and it was all very hush-hush, and, you know, 11 o'clock, somebody ringing their
00:14:36bell and stuff,
00:14:37and I explained who I was, so they said, okay, and they let me in, the taxi left.
00:14:44The nighttime supervisor was there, and I said, so what do you think?
00:14:51Should I wake Emma up, or should I wait?
00:14:53And 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.
00:15:10It's not 3 o'clock in the morning.
00:15:12She'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?
00:15:34Why 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 hasn't been well.
00:15:59There are issues with Emma.
00:16:04I said, oh, okay.
00:16:07And then all those phone calls started playing in my head,
00:16:10and the tears, and the come, and the don't come, 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.
00:16:34But I knew that it had 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.
00:16:48And the three of them decided that she should be designated a missing person.
00:16:57So my perception was, well, why are they designating her a missing person?
00:17:04Because she missed her bed once.
00:17:08Why would you be alarmed?
00:17:10I mean, I was alarmed because I had the phone calls,
00:17:14but I couldn't understand why they were so alarmed.
00:17:18Alarmed enough to call the police and designate her a missing person.
00:17:21That 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,
00:17:37The best thing you could do is get a hotel room,
00:17:41and we'll go looking for her on the streets.
00:17:47There was a hotel directly across from the shelter.
00:17:52So I said,
00:17:53I'll take my luggage over there,
00:17:55and 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,
00:18:01Absolutely 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,
00:18:06there'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,
00:18:15we will probably request that you get in the car
00:18:19and that we take you back to your hotel.
00:18:22We don't want to see you on the street.
00:18:27And so I foolishly,
00:18:33and that's in retrospect,
00:18:36I foolishly thought
00:18:39that there would be a significant effort
00:18:41on the part of the police
00:18:43to find this young woman
00:18:45who suddenly is designated a missing person.
00:18:48Things are so serious.
00:18:50Things that I'm not aware of
00:18:51have escalated to the point
00:18:53that they decide.
00:18:55The supervisor and the police decide.
00:18:59I wasn't really part of the conversation.
00:19:01I was there,
00:19:01but 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.
00:19:45I didn't undress.
00:19:46I walked off her closer
00:19:47and she didn't go near the shelter
00:19:48or she bypassed the shelter
00:19:50and I realized it wasn't Emma.
00:19:52So 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
00:20:09for all the areas
00:20:10and we sent a message
00:20:11to all the MDTs,
00:20:12that's the mobile computers
00:20:13in the patrol cars themselves.
00:20:15So officers that night
00:20:16knew who they were looking for.
00:20:21They did a lot of area checks,
00:20:22checking parks and other locations
00:20:24where people would hang out.
00:20:26They got a picture of Emma,
00:20:28which was added to our patrol briefing.
00:20:30So the oncoming shift the next morning
00:20:32would have a picture of Emma
00:20:33and they'd know who they were looking for.
00:20:39We checked with area hospitals
00:20:41all up and down the islands,
00:20:43checked if they had dealt with Emma
00:20:44or if they had any unknown females
00:20:47or Jane Doe.
00:20:54Victoria Police are looking
00:20:55for a missing woman tonight
00:20:56and they're hoping you can
00:20:57help them find her.
00:20:58Her name is Emma Philippoff.
00:21:00She's 26 years old
00:21:01and she was last seen
00:21:02in the 800 block
00:21:03of Burdett Avenue last night.
00:21:05Police say she frequents
00:21:06the downtown area
00:21:07but she has no history
00:21:08of going missing.
00:21:09She was last seen
00:21:10wearing camouflage pants
00:21:12and was carrying an orange purse.
00:21:14If you see Emma Philippoff
00:21:16or you know her whereabouts,
00:21:17you're asked to contact police.
00:21:26The second day
00:21:27I went back to the shelter.
00:21:29She still wasn't there.
00:21:31I thought
00:21:31I'm going to walk the streets
00:21:33because I'm going to go
00:21:34around the corner
00:21:35and I'm going to run into Emma.
00:21:36I'm going to check coffee shops.
00:21:38I'm going to check
00:21:39down by the harbour.
00:21:41I'm going to check
00:21:42places that I think
00:21:43Emma might be.
00:21:48Went to the library
00:21:49I think even that first day.
00:21:56I went back to the shelter
00:21:58to talk to them
00:21:59and get some advice.
00:22:02Whoever I spoke to
00:22:04said
00:22:06I suggest you start
00:22:07putting out posters.
00:22:12When you start putting out
00:22:14missing posters of your child,
00:22:19you start thinking
00:22:20there's a lot more
00:22:22to this story
00:22:24and something is
00:22:27so desperately wrong
00:22:30that it's probably something
00:22:32you can't really fathom.
00:22:49Because she got to a stage
00:22:52where she was reticent
00:22:54to have her picture taken,
00:22:56I had very few
00:22:59adult pictures of Emma.
00:23:01And out there with me
00:23:03I had none.
00:23:05So
00:23:05I said to them
00:23:07I said
00:23:07well I don't have
00:23:08a single picture.
00:23:09They said
00:23:09well we have one picture.
00:23:13So that would have been
00:23:14the first time
00:23:14that she had gone
00:23:15to the shelter.
00:23:17It was the only picture
00:23:18I had.
00:23:22And then I discovered
00:23:23much to my dismay
00:23:24that
00:23:26in Victoria
00:23:27you can't just push
00:23:28posters up
00:23:29just anywhere.
00:23:30I didn't know that.
00:23:32So I was putting up
00:23:33Emma's poster
00:23:34on every pole.
00:23:37I went into restaurants
00:23:38went into stores.
00:23:40So
00:23:41as I was putting up
00:23:42posters
00:23:43the town bylaw officer
00:23:45I guess
00:23:46was systematically
00:23:47taking them all down.
00:23:51I continued to approach
00:23:53restaurants,
00:23:54stores,
00:23:55bars,
00:23:56pubs,
00:23:57you name it
00:23:58I approached them.
00:23:59Some were very
00:24:01great about it
00:24:02and said
00:24:02I will put it
00:24:02right in the door
00:24:05and some places
00:24:06said staff bathroom
00:24:07or staff room.
00:24:14One of the places
00:24:15that wouldn't put
00:24:16on the poster
00:24:16of Emma
00:24:17anywhere but
00:24:18in the staff room
00:24:19or in the staff bathroom
00:24:20was the library
00:24:22where Emma frequented
00:24:23where Emma frequented
00:24:24Emma frequented
00:24:25in the library
00:24:26daily
00:24:26sometimes for hours.
00:24:34So then I guess
00:24:35my next step
00:24:36was to get in touch
00:24:38with friends
00:24:40of Emma's from home
00:24:42and asking for pictures.
00:24:45So at last
00:24:46I had some
00:24:47colour photos.
00:25:03I'm thinking by then
00:25:06a really
00:25:08kind
00:25:09young man
00:25:10called James
00:25:10stepped into my life
00:25:12and he had seen
00:25:14the poster
00:25:15and on the poster
00:25:16of course
00:25:17was my email
00:25:17so he emailed me
00:25:21and said
00:25:22I don't know
00:25:23who you are
00:25:25but I don't know
00:25:26why you think
00:25:26Emma's missing
00:25:27but 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
00:25:37with you?
00:25:38So I responded
00:25:40and I said
00:25:40dear James
00:25:41I'm Emma's mum
00:25:44I spoke to Emma
00:25:46quite a few times
00:25:47before I came to Victoria
00:25:48and she had asked me
00:25:50to come out
00:25:51and then nod
00:25:51and I explained
00:25:52the situation to him
00:25:53I said
00:25:54I really feel
00:25:57that something
00:25:58is seriously wrong
00:26:00and the police
00:26:01had designated
00:26:02her a missing person
00:26:03as well.
00:26:05So he said
00:26:06oh.
00:26:09When she first
00:26:10went missing
00:26:11the way that I found out
00:26:13was a friend of mine
00:26:15takes her missing poster
00:26:17to my door
00:26:18to my apartment
00:26:20and the first thing
00:26:21I thought about
00:26:22was oh no
00:26:22it's just
00:26:23it's a jealous boyfriend
00:26:25and he just doesn't understand
00:26:26she wants to live free
00:26:27and like
00:26:28she doesn't want
00:26:29commitments
00:26:30and she just
00:26:30doesn't want to have a phone
00:26:32like she just wants to get away
00:26:33that was my first
00:26:34really strong feeling
00:26:35of like
00:26:36this is just a silly
00:26:38jealous boyfriend
00:26:39and then I found out
00:26:40it was her mum
00:26:42then I was like
00:26:43oh well maybe
00:26:44simple
00:26:45maybe it is more serious
00:26:46you know
00:26:48but that was my initial
00:26:51gut feeling
00:26:53I met him probably
00:26:54the next day
00:26:55and I think he came
00:26:57to the hotel lobby
00:26:58I think that's where
00:26:59we met
00:27:02not that much longer
00:27:03after
00:27:04he invited
00:27:06his friend
00:27:07Sever Brani
00:27:08who's a Canadian author
00:27:10to join us
00:27:11so James and Sever
00:27:12were best friends
00:27:13I believe that James
00:27:14was the best man
00:27:15at Sever's wedding
00:27:18either he invited
00:27:19Sever or he told
00:27:20them about what
00:27:21was going on
00:27:22and Sever said
00:27:23I maybe can help
00:27:24can I help
00:27:26so Sever and I
00:27:27and James
00:27:28worked as a team
00:27:32we started meeting
00:27:34at different coffee shops
00:27:36and we planned
00:27:39our strategies
00:27:41I handed out posters
00:27:42for them to poster
00:27:43to hand out
00:27:44we continued creating
00:27:46Emma's Facebook page
00:27:47James and Sever
00:27:49saved my life
00:27:51out there
00:27:52because
00:27:54I'm not great
00:27:55with computers
00:27:57I'm also
00:27:58geographically impaired
00:28:00so I found
00:28:02that their knowledge
00:28:03of the city
00:28:03and their ability
00:28:05to create little maps
00:28:07for us to use
00:28:08to say okay
00:28:09you're going to go here
00:28:10and I'm going to go there
00:28:11was beyond helpful
00:28:13now no one
00:28:14had a car
00:28:16it wasn't safe
00:28:17because I would never
00:28:19have my eyes on the road
00:28:20I'd have my eyes
00:28:21on the sidewalk
00:28:21looking for Emma
00:28:22so I never rented a car
00:28:24so everywhere we went
00:28:26we went on foot
00:28:28but that was advantageous
00:28:30because on your way
00:28:32to a location
00:28:33of course
00:28:33we looked
00:28:35we searched
00:28:35right
00:28:38I went with two women
00:28:41who offered to drive me
00:28:44around to different locations
00:28:45so I myself went to a number
00:28:48of the small islands
00:28:49around Victoria
00:28:51and a lot of them just had
00:28:54a general store
00:28:55with one restaurant
00:28:57you know that type of thing
00:28:58and everybody was very friendly
00:29:02and helpful
00:29:02and caring
00:29:03and said yes
00:29:04we'll put up a poster
00:29:05and leave some posters
00:29:06and we'll hand them out
00:29:07to people
00:29:08that we know
00:29:10that you know
00:29:10move around a bit
00:29:13that's how we spread the news
00:29:14on the islands
00:29:20so as the investigation went on
00:29:22we were speaking
00:29:23with Emma's mom
00:29:24Shelly
00:29:26she was running
00:29:27her own sort of
00:29:27parallel investigation
00:29:28and doing what she could
00:29:29to find her daughter
00:29:30and she was sharing
00:29:31all the information
00:29:32she received at the time
00:29:33so we were taking those leads
00:29:35and investigating those points
00:29:36as well
00:29:38one of the things
00:29:39we found was Emma's van
00:29:40which we went through
00:29:41and found some of her possessions
00:29:42and things like her journals
00:29:44which we were able
00:29:45to read through
00:29:46trying to develop
00:29:47leads as to
00:29:47what was going on
00:29:49with Emma at the time
00:29:49and where she might have been
00:29:53I discovered
00:29:54that Emma had a van
00:29:55that the police had confiscated
00:29:58and it appeared
00:30:00that all her belongings
00:30:02were in it
00:30:06they said that they had
00:30:08to have the van first
00:30:09because right away
00:30:10I wanted to get into it
00:30:11and see what I could find
00:30:13and see if there were any clues
00:30:15they said no
00:30:16it needed to go
00:30:17through forensic testing
00:30:19and fingerprinting
00:30:21and so it was a while
00:30:23before I had access
00:30:25to her van
00:30:32tips and information
00:30:34started to trickle into
00:30:35the Help Find Emma
00:30:36Philippoff Facebook page
00:30:38and among the messages
00:30:40that I got
00:30:43a number of them
00:30:44were of sightings
00:30:47of Emma
00:30:47on the day she went missing
00:30:49so
00:30:49like
00:30:49to
00:30:49see
00:30:49the
00:30:49miles
00:30:49the
00:30:49the
00:30:50the
00:31:50And actually I spoke to the manager or assistant manager at the Chateau Victoria and she was very nice and
00:32:00she was very understanding.
00:32:01And she gave me the feeling that she felt very bad that Emma had even received a notice that she
00:32:09had to move.
00:32:10And she gave me the feeling that she had to move.
00:33:10And she gave me the feeling that she had to move.
00:33:20I was very surprised that Emma made those what I considered unusual purchases at 7-11 for her because I
00:33:29did discover that she had money in her bank account.
00:33:31So I couldn't begin to fathom why she would get a prepaid credit card.
00:33:37And I'm going to take a look at her.
00:34:04I'm going to take a look at her.
00:37:04One was a man and his daughter working at the Nutka Center, 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
00:37:18it 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 good,
00:38:28what you guys are doing as an artist, but it's like she was oblivious to the fact that we were
00:38:35even there.
00:38:38But I just saw her and we're painting away my daughter and I, and I sort of didn't pay attention
00:38:48to anything until I started seeing her like coming back out and back forth and back out kind of thing.
00:38:55A few times and I noticed her, I'm going, hmm there's something going on here, is 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
00:39:28walking with small steps, taking three, four steps and then sort of stopping, looking, and then going back a little
00:39:38bit.
00:39:39Two, three quick little steps and then stopping and then coming back and that sort of thing, right?
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 a mix
00:39:58of she seemed very confused, disorientated,
00:40:02and she didn't seem like she was scared, she wasn't running, but it's almost like she was looking for someone
00:40:12or something.
00:40:18She seemed like she was lost.
00:40:24You know, lost in her mind, I mean.
00:40:27No, not lost, I don't know where I am, but it seemed like she was lost.
00:40:32Should I go left or should I go right or, so you go out and then you come back and,
00:40:38you know, like, like what's going on, right?
00:40:52And then she, she, she seemed to have gone at the other end of the Nootka Korta, going, going up
00:41:01towards Broughton Street, I believe.
00:41:03And, and then I didn't see her again, come back in and then we finished the job.
00:41:09And then as we were leaving, we, we went down Broughton and then we saw her like standing inside of
00:41:17Broughton or Courtney.
00:41:20And, uh, 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 Emma, that's
00:41:36the girl we saw.
00:41:38Right.
00:41:38So I made my call and, uh, and, and at the time I figured, okay, well, there's cameras in that
00:41:44building.
00:41:45Uh, I thought that, well, the police, if they're investigating her being missing, uh, they should be able to retrieve
00:41:52the 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 Our Place.
00:42:36And, um, he wanted to talk to her, of course.
00:42:40And, uh, Emma said, uh, I can't talk, 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 or goodbye.
00:43:20But she was affectionate.
00:43:22And she would definitely, had she been Emma, had she been herself, would have 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.
00:44:00And we would go out to the streets and serve dinner to anyone who was hungry downtown.
00:44:04And she came to get a wrap.
00:44:06So we knew it was her.
00:44:11So 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 fact
00:44:27that it was co-ed.
00:44:27But 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.
00:45:08She 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 chest.
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 gone.
00:45:52So on the 28th, November 28th, Emma had called the towing company and wanted to have her van towed to
00:46:02Souk.
00:46:03Um, it never happened.
00:46:07Um, I don't know why.
00:46:09I never found out why.
00:46:10It was an expensive little venture.
00:46:12It was going to be $202.
00:46:15But Emma did have money.
00:46:17Emma 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.
00:46:37Sometime between two and five, I think I took the call.
00:46:43She wanted her van towed.
00:46:48And I know it was somewhere on the West Shore.
00:46:51It may have been West Coast storage, but I'm not sure.
00:46:55I 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 be 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 they decided, no, it's not going
00:47:32to work.
00:47:33You 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 very, um, delicate.
00:47:51Very sweet, you know, like, like not, she didn't sound distressed or anything, but just, like I was concerned by
00:48:02how 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.
00:48:34Hi, I don't know who I should really be talking to, but I saw this girl twice on the day
00:48:40she went 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 4 and 6 PM.
00:48:57It was starting to get dark.
00:48:59I 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 and I noticed her.
00:49:11Mainly the big mane of hair she had coming out of her hood.
00:49:28About 45 minutes later, I've gotten in my 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 the street in front
00:49:45of my car.
00:49:47I just thought of it as funny coincidence.
00:49:51She glanced at me as she was crossing.
00:49:53So I smiled.
00:49:56And what I received back was so sad.
00:50:00The type of smile you smile when you're holding back tears.
00:50:03My immediate reaction was that I felt I should park the car and ask her if she was okay.
00:50:08But then I figured that since I'm a 30 year old man, that may come across as creepy.
00:50:13So I didn't.
00:50:13Now ever since I saw her in the paper, I can't forgive myself for not following my gut instincts.
00:50:20Anyways, she was walking up Douglas.
00:50:23I don't think she went into the Mayfair Mall because she didn't cut through the parking lot.
00:50:27She kept going straight up Douglas.
00:50:29I went up the street and I got gas at the Shell by Uptown.
00:50:34If the police find me on the Shell station video that day, they should be able to find her on
00:50:39cameras going up Douglas.
00:50:41I hope this helps. Don't hesitate to contact me day or night if you need anything.
00:50:47That one I remember.
00:50:56What are your thoughts on this one?
00:50:57What do you remember feeling at the time?
00:51:03I remember feeling really hopeful, really scared, really sad.
00:51:11Sad that he said that she looked like she was on the verge of tears.
00:51:15Sad to think that she had wandered all that way up from where she had been earlier.
00:51:24Here again, it says they contacted police.
00:51:26It seems like police received an insane amount of calls for Emma in one day.
00:51:32Yeah.
00:51:32Go figure, eh?
00:51:33And of course, they couldn't find her.
00:51:39My thought was, is this like a mental health or is she maybe on something so she doesn't feel the
00:51:46cold like that?
00:51:49What stood out was she was with an older man walking barefoot across the crosswalk at Bay and Quadra.
00:51:59She fit the exact same description and I did not know about her until the news came on.
00:52:05And the only reason I remember her was she was barefoot in November.
00:52:11Also the fact that she was young and pretty and walking with an older man with grey white hair.
00:52:18This man was clearly leading Emma down the road towards fairways on Bay Street.
00:52:25I called Vic PD, but they were completely uninterested in what I had seen, like I was just seeking attention.
00:52:37They didn't seem to give a crap, 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 and what was the location, you know,
00:52:51but it was very brief.
00:52:53Okay, thank you and goodbye.
00:52:55And I thought maybe they would reach out to me again after that.
00:52:58And I'm like, well, that was rather quick, but they never 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.
00:53:17They were just, I didn't think anything of it.
00:53:20It was just a couple.
00:53:21Couldn't have cared less.
00:53:22Thought, 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.
00:53:34Like what the heck?
00:53:35So I got it.
00:53:36I took a good look at both of them.
00:53:37Like what is going on?
00:53:40I thought maybe like she needed a little bit of guidance.
00:53:44It looked like maybe she was, I wouldn't say completely, like, I don't want to say she was under the
00:53:49influence of anything, but she looked like she was a bit vulnerable.
00:53:54And the man seemed to kind of be steadying her as he, she was kind of like, they weren't walking
00:54:00hand 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.
00:54:12So, and the way he looked, like, I just looked at him and I looked at his jacket and I
00:54:17looked at him.
00:54:18He was an older fellow.
00:54:19He had 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 guy, like she was comfortable, like she knew him.
00:54:36She was like, you know, she didn't appear like all upset or anything like that.
00:54:40But she, but, but, you know, like a bit animated with him, kind of chit chatty standing there while we
00:54:48were waiting for the light.
00:54:49And then he was just kind of like, and then let's go.
00:54:57And, and the closest that I can say that he looked like was that guide off that, that movie, just
00:55:04the slim build, kind of white thinning hair, but his was like, kind of like a bit scraggly.
00:55:10Like long, I'll pull up one that I thought came to mind when I seen him, just his build, his
00:55:16body build, just kind of that casual, very casual, like almost like, you know, like how a professor would, would,
00:55:24would dress.
00:55:25If he's going to university, he might have a bit of, you know, frazzled hair, but it's just that kind
00:55:30of casual attire that he had on that made me, I went, gosh, he reminds me.
00:55:35Who is that that reminds me? I've seen that guy before. Where is he?
00:55:38And I was thinking about it and thinking about it and I'm like, oh my gosh, that's Brewster.
00:55:41And so here, I'll just bring it up on my phone.
00:55:44I don't know if you can see that.
00:55:47Only with longer hair thinning because it was white.
00:55:51So there's that. And then this one only 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 that had an interest
00:56:07in her.
00:56:08That's exactly what I thought.
00:56:11I could tell he was definitely in control of, of the situation.
00:56:15Like he was completely coherent.
00:56:17He didn'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.
00:56:42And so she was checking into the shelter.
00:56:48She already had a bed.
00:56:50She, 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.
00:57:10If so-and-so's home, so-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, you know, and Emma had been out.
00:57:20But then, um, I was told that she was acting a little bizarre that night.
00:57:27Like she tried to throw her, throw out a vacuum cleaner into the dumpster.
00:57:31And I guess one of the staff said, you know, what are you doing, Emma?
00:57:35You know that you don't need to throw that out.
00:57:38And she would just, she apparently just, you know, stop doing that.
00:57:42And then, then she left not too long after that.
00:57:45It was, it was bizarre.
00:57:47It was like, you know, not behavior that we didn't normally see from her.
00:57:52And we were anticipating her mom to come to the shelter because she had phoned ahead and said she was,
00:58:00she was coming.
00:58:01She was on the plane.
00:58:02She was doing, she was playa.
00:58:07She was lying.
00:58:10She was crying.
00:58:10And I was like, you know, what I mean?
00:58:13Cool.
00:58:32He thought I would've been doing it.
00:59:21She came into my work, and so I was helping her with the self-forward transaction.
00:59:33I happened to notice that, you know, she's a little off.
00:59:38She wasn't wearing any shoes.
00:59:44Went through the transaction and tried to help her as much as I can.
01:00:10I 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.
01:00:37I 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, but I got a very, very bad feel
01:00:55from watching that footage.
01:01:26It's just a short piece of footage.
01:01:27It's just a short piece of footage.
01:01:27I 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.
01:01:52But the second night, she seemed a little bit frantic.
01:01:59She was looking around the store.
01:02:05She wasn't wearing any shoes, she just had socks on.
01:02:31I didn't really happen to notice that there's anything too significant by looking her in the eyes.
01:02:37She had issues looking at me directly.
01:02:45She was looking you around the door, her head blaming her by saying,
01:02:46delineation and saying note as aış Athlete Wife you'll find.
01:03:06So, you're looking at me personally and she's going to see you carefully.
01:03:40The news had it the next day, and that's why I was
01:03:43I pwned, because I was worried, because I 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 once he knew, realized that the young woman he had given a ride to
01:04:07was in fact Emma, the 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
01:04:56I 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 and
01:05:35drop 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 and then not wanting to
01:06:31get 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, which was also a
01:07:02little 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, so 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.
01:08:08When 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, uh, for feeding birds.
01:08:37Today is Friday, July 15th, and Emma has a very special friend with her.
01:08:47Emma, if you come a little bit closer, stay there, and I'll try to focus in to show that, just
01:08:53a minute, Matthew.
01:08:55That Emma has a pet squirrel, and the squirrel's 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 there.
01:09:16No, I don't think they're lettuce-eaters.
01:09:17But he did, yesterday.
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.
01:09:29Good morning.
01:09:30Reading about these sightings, a scary picture began to form for me.
01:09:35Um, I mean, I was becoming aware of things that were more than unnerving, but the descriptions
01:09:46that I got of Emma on that day were actually very scary.
01:09:52And the picture that it painted was, was a scary one, um, where I felt that, um, she was very,
01:10:01very unwell, and that she definitely needed help.
01:10:12And I called, like, 911 dispatcher, and they're, like, fire, police, or ambulance.
01:10:18And I told him, like, well, I'm not really sure if it's ambulance or police.
01:10:20I just, I kind of, like, explained briefly, like, there's a girl I know, and she doesn't
01:10:24seem, like, completely herself.
01:10:26I know I knew her from once before, but something just seemed, like, off, and it's, like, it's,
01:10:30like, 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.
01:10:41And I said, like, yeah, we'll send, like, a police, uh, a police car over there to check
01:10:45her out sort of thing.
01:10:46And I'm, like, okay, sounds good.
01:10:54I remember finding out that the police had spoken to Emma that night, and I remember finding
01:11:04out that it was on record that they spoke with her from 7.23 until 8 o'clock.
01:11:09And I was stunned.
01:11:14A woman looking disheveled, looking distraught, lost, bare feet, clutching her shoes, being
01:11:25interviewed by police.
01:11:27That is in direct opposition to the picture that the other story, the other narrative told.
01:11:57A woman, a woman, a woman, a woman, a woman, a woman, a woman, a woman, a woman, a woman,
01:11:58a woman,
01:11:58You