Nine years after Emma Fillipoff, then 26, was seen barefoot and disoriented in front of the Empress Hotel in Victoria, she remains missing.
On Nov. 28, 2012, Victoria police officers were called to the area in front of the hotel to speak with Fillipoff. Reports say she was acting paranoid and anxious, but after speaking with her for 45 minutes police determined she wasn’t a risk to herself or others, and they let her go on her way.
For six years, this interaction was thought to be the last sighting of Fillipoff, but in 2018 a new witness told police he had given Fillipoff a ride early the following morning. The man, known only as William, said he had been hesitant to come forward in case he was implicated, but told police he dropped Fillipoff off at the intersection of Craigflower Road and Admirals Road on his way to work around 5:15 a.m. Nov. 29.
The tip spurred a three-day cadaver dog search around View Royal, the Gorge Waterway, and the Galloping Goose trail in December 2018, but nothing was found.
Fillipoff’s mother, Shelley Fillipoff, said leading up to her disappearance Fillipoff had been living a transient life, taking odd jobs, living at a hotel and sometimes sleeping in the woods. Shelley said one night in November 2012, her daughter revealed to her that she was staying at a women’s shelter and wanted to come home, but then later changed her mind.
Despite requests not to visit, Shelley flew from Ontario to Victoria on Nov. 28 and arrived at the shelter her daughter had been staying at, only to find her missing.
To mark the ninth anniversary of Fillipoff’s disappearance, investigators released new photos of the 5’5” brunette woman, as well as some of Fillipoff’s own artistic shots.
Police say her disappearance continues to be actively investigated, and while they have received hundreds of tips from across the country, none have been proven to be confirmed sightings of Fillipoff.
Anyone with any information about Fillipoff’s disappearance or who sees her is asked to contact VicPD’s non-emergency line at 250-995-7654 or report anonymously to Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
