Canadian Tourist Missing in China

Thanks to TVB for clearing copyright of this news footage.

Friends of Ani Ashekian made a public appeal for help in their volunteer search efforts to find information on the whereabouts of the 30-year-old missing Canadian tourist last seen in Hong Kong on November 8, 2008. On Sunday 28 December 2008m local volunteers put up posters and handed out flyers around Chung King Mansion (36-44 Nathan Road, TST, Kowloon, Hong Kong) where Ashekian was last seen. Regional Police in Hong Kong are following up on several leads that surfaced as a result of public tips.

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Search is mounted for missing Canadian tourist in Hong Kong

Hong Kong : SCMP 25 December 2008

Police fear for the safety of a Canadian tourist who vanished in Hong Kong last month.

Ani Ashekian, 30, has not been heard from since she sent a text message to her sister on November 10, a day after she arrived in the city.

Her bank accounts have been untouched since two cash advances, one for HK$2,000 and another for HK$800, were made on her Visa card from ATMs at Causeway Bay MTR station on November 10.

A police statement yesterday said she was last seen at Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui. She was wearing a white top and carrying a rucksack.

Miss Ashekian, who had been planning to travel to India before returning to Toronto on December 15, never left Hong Kong, according to passport information obtained by her family in Canada.

She has no close friends or family in the city and her relatives in Canada became worried after not hearing from her for weeks.

"She was looking to find herself," said her older sister, Rosie Kampstra. "She wanted to tour the world."

Miss Ashekian, described as 163cm tall, 55kg and of South Asian appearance, left Toronto Pearson International Airport with two acquaintances from her legal firm on an overnight flight to Beijing on October 24.

She checked out of the Beijing YWCA on October 30 without discussing her plans with her travel companions, something her sister said was not out of the ordinary.

"She's very spontaneous," Ms Kampstra said. "When she gets something in her mind, that's what she is going to do. She wasn't good friends with the people she went to Beijing with.

"Honestly, she probably didn't know herself where she was going at that point."

All that is known about her movements after that is that she passed through Hong Kong immigration on November 9.

Nick Gentle and Dan Kadison

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• missing
• canadian
• tourist
• hong
• kong
• china
• ani
• ashekian
• facebook

[kuniverseliguang]

lets help...finding ani ashekian

There is a top HK celebrity has lent her helping hand in the process of finding Ani,by posting Anis info at her Yahoo Official Blog. Almost ten thousand of people view her blog daily at Hong Kong. I am a fan of hers. Fiona Sit is her lovely name.

[kuniverseliguang]

...If you are interested, you might want to browse her blog by google her name, and click official blog at the last line of the page on (Fiona Sit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). hope Ani is fine and hope you guys can successfully find her. If you find her, donn't forgot to buy one or two of her fabulous album from HK to support the kindhearted and anonymous artist.

[lobelia2]

chung king mansion is ghetto. locals wouldn't even go up to the rooms 'cause it's so scary.

[torontomsimpson100]

she was Canadian what the hell man

[kuniverseliguang]

yeah, we should offer our helping hand, if it is within our ability, to find Ani.

[kuniverseliguang]

the most important thing now is that we should try our best to find Ani.

[SevakDM]

Thanx,

I'm just about to google her name, your recommendation was good.

[FindAniAshekian]

No new news. We are still looking for Ani.

[SevakDM]

Any updated news about Ani yet?

[SevakDM]

Such a great person. Many thanx to her for being such a kind and helpful person.