Toronto police plan to release new video taken of a Toronto teen the day before she disappeared in the hopes it will jog memories and generate leads.
The video of Mariam Makhniashvili, taken by security cameras at Union Station on Sept. 13, will be made public on Wednesday.
The teen had been on an outing to the Toronto Islands that day, where she was a volunteer for a dragon-boat race. Police hope having video instead of still images may help spur witnesses to come forward.
Mariam walked to school the next day with her brother George. He went in a rear entrance to Forest Hill Collegiate Institute. She told him she would go in the front door, which was closer to her first-period class.
No confirmed sighting has been made of the 17-year-old since, although there was one unconfirmed sighting of her in a McDonald's location on St. Clair Avenue West -- one of more than 100 tips police have received so far.
Police say she was last seen wearing :
- a blue, long-sleeved, v-neck t-shirt
- blue, waist-length jean jacket,
- black cotton/polyester pants, possible two long, with two pockets front and back
- light-coloured running shoes
- small black backpack with a diagonal stripe on the back pocket and a small rip above the pocket. The strip had originally been silver/grey but had been painted a forest-green water colour
- watch with a silver band
Police have checked airports and border points, but no trace of the girl has been found at those points.
CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin said police sources tell him they have been unable to find independent accounts of Mariam's last known movements. As a result, they plan to reinterview the family, he said.
The 20 Shallmar Blvd. apartment building the Makhniashvilis call home has a security camera in its lobby, but it doesn't store the video, he said.
Police continue to operate a command post near the apartment building, where people can come in for information or pass tips along to police.
The girl is a newcomer to Canada.
She came here in June with her brother to be reunited with their parents. They had been living with their grandparents in Georgia while their parents had spent the past five years in Los Angeles.
Her parents insist her daughter was happy in Canada. However, George told CTV Toronto on Monday, "Maybe she was depressed -- new environment and that kind of thing."
However, he described his sister as being very responsible and not the type that would run away without telling anyone. Her mother Lela said Mariam was "not street-savvy type."
Police said Monday they have no evidence at this point to suggest Mariam met with any sort of foul play.
They have also contacted their counterparts in the Republic of Georgia and the United States for assistance.
Members of Toronto's 1,000-member Georgian community say news of Makhniashvili's disappearance is front-page news in her homeland.
Georgia, with a population of 4.7 million, sits on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Russia is its biggest northern neighbour, while Turkey is the biggest country to the south.
Police ask anyone with information about Mariam to contact them at 416-808-5300, call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com or by texting TOR and a message to CRIMES (274637).
With a report from CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin
