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On a chilly winter night time, three armed males disguised as cops arrived at a suburban dwelling in a small Canadian resort city and knocked on the door, claiming that they’d an arrest warrant for a 37-year-old girl who was staying there.
After overpowering the home-owner, they seized the girl, Iranian-born Elnaz Hajtamiri, hauled her barefoot by the snow right into a car, and sped off into the darkish.
Practically three months later, police admit they’re no nearer to finding Hajtamiri, in a case that has baffled investigators.
“I’ve by no means, by no means come throughout a case like this,” Ontario provincial police detective inspector Martin Graham advised reporters this week, including that investigators had not decided a motive or obtained any ransom calls for. Additionally they haven’t positioned the white Lexus SUV car used within the abduction on 12 January, nor have they recognized its proprietor.
“My greatest hope is that Elnaz is alive,” mentioned Graham. “My best worry is that she will not be.”
Police took the “extraordinary” step of reaching out to the Iranian group in Toronto and Montreal as they increase the scope of their search, and are considering the chance that she has been taken in a foreign country. This week, investigators additionally mentioned they believed a brutal assault on Hajtamiri in December was linked to her abduction.
Two weeks earlier than the kidnapping, Hajtamiri was attacked within the parking storage of her condominium in Richmond Hill, a metropolis north of Toronto. The assailants beat her with a frying pan and left her with severe head wounds that required 40 stitches. Police say they later retrieved a monitoring machine. Two different monitoring gadgets had been present in her automotive when she introduced the car in for servicing in November.
After the December assault, Hajtamiri feared for her security and moved in with household within the city of Wasaga Seaside, 145km (90 miles) north of Toronto. The one time she reportedly left the beachfront group was 10 January, to retrieve her car, laptop and cell phone from police. Two days later, she was kidnapped.
On Thursday, York Area police introduced the arrest of Riyasat Singh in reference to the assault on the parking storage. Singh, 23, faces 4 prices, together with tried kidnapping and tried homicide. Police additionally issued a Canada-wide warrant for the arrest of Harshdeep Binner, who faces the identical prices.
Police say they don’t consider the identical males had been concerned within the kidnapping on January 12.
“We’ve got no less than 5 completely different individuals accountable instantly for these crimes,” mentioned Graham. “Regardless of the variety of individuals concerned, we now have obtained no info that would offer us with a particular hyperlink as to the place the investigation ought to be headed.”
In late January, police arrested her former boyfriend Mohamad Lilo, charging him with felony harassment. The 2 broke up in October, however he tried to contact her the subsequent month and police develop into concerned. Officers wouldn’t say if he’s a suspect in her abduction, however mentioned they’re investigating the connection, which they mentioned was each private {and professional}.
Hajtamiri, who additionally goes by the surname Tamiri, emigrated to Canada lower than 4 years in the past, after she misplaced her husband. She had just lately began her personal cake-making firm after leaving an import-export enterprise.
Of their newest push for brand new info, police launched a video of Fariba Hajtamiri, Elnaz’s mom, pleading for her daughter’s launch. Fariba, who nonetheless lives in Iran, mentioned the household’s life has develop into “determined” as they hope for Elnaz’s launch.
“We desperately want your assist,” she mentioned in Farsi. “I urge you as a mom to information us and inform us something . Please, I urge of you.”
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