Disappearance of Emma Fillipoff

Fillipoff arrived in Victoria in the fall of 2011 from Perth, Ontario. She had brief employment at the Red Fish Blue Fish seafood restaurant in Victoria's Inner Harbour. Since the work was seasonal, Fillipoff left the job on October 31, 2012. She assured co-workers she would be back in the spring.[4]

In what police believe was preparation to move back to Ontario, Fillipoff hired a tow-truck on November 21. She rented the truck in order to move her Mazda from Sooke to the Chateau Victoria parking garage.[5] Unbeknownst to her family, Fillipoff had stayed at the Sandy Merriman House women's shelter on and off since February.[6] On November 23, Fillipoff was captured on security footage at the Victoria YMCA, entering, then leaving, then entering multiple times as if possibly avoiding someone on the outside.[6]

In the days preceding her disappearance, Fillipoff had phoned her mother in Ontario, asking if she could come home.[6] Each time her tone would quickly change and Emma would then ask her mother not to come. On the final call, her mother became aware that Emma had been staying at the Sandy Merriman House, and even though Emma had asked her not to come, she made plans to fly out immediately. Emma's last words to her mom were, "I don't know how I can face you." Emma's mother arrived at Sandy Merriman House at about 11:00 pm on the 28th, three hours after Emma had been last seen by police at the Empress Hotel.[5]

Early on the day of November 28, Fillipoff had been captured on a 7-Eleven store video on Government Street purchasing a pre-paid cell phone.[7] The video showed her hesitating in departing the store, seemingly checking the street outside. She returned to the 7-Eleven to buy a pre-paid credit card for $200. Reportedly, she left the Sandy Merriman House at about 6:00 p.m. that day.[8] Soon after, she hailed a taxi and asked to be taken to the Victoria International Airport; however, she soon exited the taxi for lack of adequate fare, even though she had the $200 prepaid card.[6]

Minutes later, Fillipoff was seen walking barefoot in front of the Empress Hotel. An acquaintance of hers, Dennis Quay,[9] called 9-1-1 to say a woman was in severe distress outside the hotel.[10] Victoria police arrived, took Fillipoff's name, and spent 45 minutes speaking with her. Deciding that she was not a threat to herself or anyone else, they released her. Until a report surfaced in June 2018,[11] no one reported seeing Emma since 8:00 pm that night. Later that evening, police met Fillipoff's mother at Sandy Merriman House; by midnight Emma was classified as a missing person.

Initially the police stated that Fillipoff had last been seen "with friends several blocks away on Burdett Avenue between Blanshard and Quadra streets."[12] Investigators explored more than 200 leads, turning up minimal information.[13] Most evidence indicates she was planning to return home to Ottawa, but there was no proof that she ever left Victoria. The cell phone she bought had never been activated.

Fillipoff's credit card[13] was allegedly found on the side of the road near the Juan de Fuca Community Centre, north of where she disappeared. It was found by a stranger, whose use of the card to purchase cigarettes was tracked by police.[4][14]

Fillipoff wrote copious poems about her time in Victoria.[7] None of it indicated that she was being stalked. Even though some of it indicated she was depressed, experts who appeared on The Fifth Estate said the writing did not have the hallmarks of suicidal ideation. According to Fillipoff's mother, however, the Sandy Merriman staff claimed that Emma "required both physical and medical intervention."[5]

In March 2016, Fillipoff's mother and brother were charged with money laundering, as well as drug and weapons offenses, after an OPP investigation. Shelley Fillipoff insisted the charges had nothing to do with the disappearance of Emma, saying "the one has nothing to do with the other."[15]

In November 2016, all charges were dropped against Shelley Fillipoff, clearing her of any involvement.[16]