In an effort to reinvigorate the almost 12-year-old investigation into the disappearance of Emma Fillipoff, her family and police investigators say they are looking to draw public attention to a person of interest.
Fillipoff, 26 at the time, had been displaying odd and out-of-character behaviour in the weeks leading to her disappearance. After learning that Fillipoff had been staying in a women’s shelter, her mother flew to Victoria from Ontario.
However, when Shelley Fillipoff arrived on the evening of Nov. 28, 2012, staff at the Sandy Merriman House women’s shelter said Fillipoff had not claimed her bed that evening. She was deemed a missing person shortly after, and despite a number of leads throughout the years, she has yet to be found.
Now, the group that continues to search for her – including her mom, Victoria Police Department investigators, forensic consultants, filmmakers and criminologists – say they are looking into an unresolved lead: a man in Vancouver's Gastown who was caught on CCTV footage claiming to be Fillipoff's boyfriend.
According to a news release, on May 27, 2014, an agitated man in a green T-shirt with a pronounced limp and tattooed arms entered a clothing boutique in downtown Vancouver holding a crumpled missing person poster of Emma. The man claimed Emma was not missing and referred to her as his girlfriend, but he left the store before the police could arrive.
"This investigation needs just one person with the right information to come forward. If you are the person known as, 'Green Shirt Guy', if you know who he is, or if you have any other information related to Emma’s case, contact the Victoria Police Department, or report anonymously through Crime Stoppers," noted Det./Const. Bob Illes of the Victoria Police Department in the release.
As part of an initiative to draw public interest, her mother worked with forensic artist Hew Morrison to create a composite of the man, based on grainy surveillance footage. They've also redesigned the helpfindemmafillipoff.ca website, with a revised timeline, including the most recent search initiatives, and a news archive covering all past articles related to Emma’s case.
“I believe that re-visiting the story of the green T-shirt man will spark renewed interest in my daughter's case. I have long felt that this man could be a valuable source of information in Emma's disappearance," noted her mom in the release.
A six-hour documentary series called Barefoot in the Night: The Search for Emma Fillipoff, is still in production with upcoming shoot dates and interviews planned for early 2025, though there is no set release date yet.
With files from Hollie Ferguson
