The parents of missing Toronto teenager Mariam Makhniashvili say they can only sit, wait and hope that good news comes soon about their daughter.
"When I go through my mind pictures of what might have happened to her, it's almost a kind of torture," Vakhtang Makhniashvili, her father, told CTV Toronto on Wednesday.
All they know is that Mariam went off to Forest Hill Collegiate Institute on Sept. 14 with her brother George and seems to have vanished.
The Toronto police say they have no evidence to support a clear direction in the case -- either that she voluntarily ran away, a victim of foul play or something else entirely.
"Somebody probably kidnapped her. That was my first thought," Vakhtang said. "She would do anything, because she was very strong-willed person, and she would do anything to escape, probably."
If someone did kidnap her, he said: "Let her go, and I'll be more than willing to do anything I can."
Vakhtang and wife Lea have stayed in seclusion at their sparsely furnished 20 Shallmar Blvd. apartment, which has only been home since the spring when they moved to Toronto from Los Angeles. Their children came to Canada in late June from the Republic of Georgia. The family had been apart for five years.
Mariam's room remains unchanged, with a neatly-made bed and her clothes hanging. The police have removed a few items.
Her parents endlessly review family photo albums.
"It's difficult because it's old memories," said Lela Tabidze. "It was so happy to reunite. It kind of didn't get a chance to stay longer."
Mariam will turn 18 on Oct. 27.
She is white, 5'3" with light brown, shoulder-length hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing black jeans with front and back pockets and buttons as well as a baby blue, long-sleeved v-neck shirt. She was wearing a waist-length blue jean jacket and was carrying an oversized, used black backpack with a silver stripe that was hastily painted over in green.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416−808−5300, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416−222−TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, or text TOR and a message to CRIMES (274637).
With a report from CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin