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Monday, 5 October 2015

Where is Emma Fillipoff (Three)

previous segments of Where is Emma Fillipoff
ONE: The Grieving Mothers of Perth, Ontario
Three: Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The day she went missing, Emma’s actions indicated that perhaps she was planning for something. Police say that on the morning of her disappearance, Emma had spoken to staff at the Chateau Victoria Hotel. There she had parked her van which contained almost all of her possessions, including her passport, laptop, journals and camera.

At 8:23 a.m., she purchased a $200 pre-paid credit card at a 7-11. Security footage shows Emma hesitating before she leaves the store. She keeps opening and closing the door. She alternates between frantically, anxiously looking outside, and pacing and waiting in the 7-11.



Emma paces in and out of the YMCA, about a week before her disappearance.
Footage of her in the 7-11 is included in the Fifth Estate documentary, "Finding Emma."

“I feel like I’m being stalked,” her journals say.
Even earlier that day, Emma had called Shelley. “Don’t come, not today Mom, not today,” she'd told her, the same words she’d repeated so many times over the past five days.  Shelley says that the call came around 7:30 a.m., Eastern Time. In Victoria, it would have been 4:30 in the morning. Had Emma slept at all the night? Without telling Emma, Shelley made arrangements to fly out and get her.

Some people think that on November 28, Emma visited the library around noon. She used to sit and read in the children’s section. Emma seemed to be the kind of girl who could fit in almost anywhere. But did she feel like she belonged in any of these places?

Emma:
"I chased death all my life. Because I was dead.
Sleeping was escape from all the pain.
And stories were the sweet music rain.
I love my mom.
But I could not cause her pain."
 
For the last nine months before she disappeared, Emma lived on and off at Sandi Merriman House, a women’s shelter. Nobody really knows why. Shelley had only found out she’d been staying there a few days before Emma vanished. The emails she’d been sending her friends and mother had been vague, bubbly and poetic. “Life is love.” “Everything is perfect and beautiful.” That sort of thing.
Sandi Merriman staff say that they saw Emma leave the shelter at about 6 p.m. Minutes earlier, at 5:54 p.m., Emma had purchased a pre-paid cell phone at the same 7-11 where she’d bought the pre-paid credit card that morning. It is curious that she would buy a cellphone now, since she’d never owned or wanted one before. The phone was never activated. Just like when Emma bought the credit card, she seemed afraid to exit the store, peering out the door as though looking for someone she didn’t want to see.
At 6:10 p.m. she got in a cab near the shelter and asked to go to the airport. The cab driver told her it would be 60 bucks. Emma had two to three thousand dollars in her bank account, but she told the driver she couldn’t afford the fare. The cab driver said she’d been acting weird. She insisted that he drop her off exactly where he’d found her. Before getting out, she asked him if she could sit in his car for awhile. She clearly didn’t want to leave. We don’t know if there was actually someone out there or if it was just in her mind. The cab driver had his radio on. Emma stared at it. Visibly frightened, she asked, “what’s that noise? Why is there noise coming out of that?” She paid for the ride with her bank card, and left.

Emma, with the long braids she used to wear
Between 7 and 8 p.m., a friend of Emma's ran into her near the Empress Hotel which is somewhat close to the water. Barefoot and clutching her shoes, Emma seemed anxious, disoriented and out of it. Her friend called 9-1-1. Police claim that they questioned her extensively, and felt that she was not a harm to herself or others.
According to the police officer who was interviewed on the Fifth Estate documentary, Emma told them, “I’m just working through some things right now. I’m going for a walk and then I’m going to a friend’s house.”  It’s not an enormous surprise that up until the last moment anyone saw her, Emma wouldn’t let on to how much she was suffering. Still, Shelley feels adamant that the police did not do due diligence in letting someone as vulnerable as Emma walk off into the night. It would have been so easy for them to accompany her to her friend’s house, or wherever she was going. Instead they simply let her go.
Three hours after Emma was last seen, Shelley arrived at Sandy Merriman House, only to discover that Emma had not claimed her bed. Immediately, Shelley contacted the police. They declared Emma a missing person, but Shelley maintains that they did nothing for three or four days. “They told me she was out partying,” Shelley said. Shelley insisted that her daughter was not a partier. Familiar with addicts of all kinds, the women’s shelter staff confirmed Shelley’s belief, reporting that Emma showed no signs of drug use.
There were errors on the police’s initial press release regarding Emma’s disappearance. The press release stated that Emma was last seen at a different corner and that she was with friends. When Shelley inquired about it, the person at the office claimed it was a typo. “Why don’t you focus on looking for your daughter?” she’d told Shelley.
End of Part Three.
-Written by Erica J. Schmidt

Source: The Fifth Estate (CBC)
Clues That May Help in the Search for Emma Fillipoff

Where is Emma Fillipoff
Read More:
ONE: The Grieving Mothers of Perth, Ontario
TWO: She's Missing
 
 

HAVE YOU SEEN EMMA?
Please Share Your Stories and Tips
Help Find Emma Fillipoff Facebook Group
Email Erica: ericaschmidt85(at)gmail(dot)com
(contact form below)
Email Shelley: fillipoff(at)hotmail(dot)com
Call the police.



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Erica on Twitter: @mypelvicfloor
 
 
 
 
 
 



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