Where in the world is Ani Ashekian? The question may remind of you a kid's TV show but this query is deadly serious.
Ashekian is the Toronto paralegal whose goal was to tour 30 different countries before her 31st birthday. The gregarious woman made it to Hong Kong just before Christmas and called home to wish her niece a happy birthday. She emailed her sister after that and was due to visit New Delhi, India before finally making the long flight back to Canada.
But her family members fear something terrible happened to her before then after she missed her flight to the latter country,
lost touch with her siblings and never returned.
Her sister made the long and difficult journey to the Chinese city this week, arriving here on Saturday. She didn't come back with the best news - there's still no sign of her lost and silent sister and the family has no clue what happened to her.
But the distraught and close knit clan has refused to give up and have upped a reward for information to $100,000 in Hong Kong currency - nearly Cdn$16,000 - in the hopes someone in that far-off nation will recall seeing the gregarious Canadian traveller.
She's pleased with the efforts that local authorities there are making. "I'm sure that they are doing as much as they can ... over there," assures Sossy Ashekian. "It was very difficult being there, it was very, very hard.
"I talked to the Hong Kong Police, the detective that's working on it and it seems like they're working 24 hours on the case."
It may seem like finding a needle in a haystack in one of the most populous countries on earth. But Ashekian insists there have been some credible sightings of a person resembling her sibling, although they have no idea why she may have stopped calling, noting it's totally out of character.
"It's very frustrating not knowing where she is, if she's safe," she admits. "We have no idea."
"We just want to know if Ani's safe," echoes sister Rosie Kampstra, struggling to avoid tears. "We just want her to call home. That's it. That's all we're looking for."
Sisters Sossy Ashekian and Rose Kampstra hold the reward poster about their missing sibling being passed out in Hong Kong.
The family is astounded at the response to their pleas, noting their Facebook page on the case and their search has attracted 11,000 members, many from Hong Kong, who have acted as volunteers to keep the story alive in that country.
Scarborough MP Jim Karygiannis has also joined the hunt, asking international resources be brought to bear to aid in the search.
For now, the family remains scared but hopeful, waiting for the clue that will turn this case around. "The smallest thing could help," pleads Sossy.
If you want to know more or think you know anything about Ani's disappearance,
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