One-Year Anniversary Of Mariam Makhniashvili’s Disappearance
Posted September 14, 2010 7:42 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of Toronto teenager Mariam Makhniashvili and investigators still have little evidence as to why or how she vanished.
Mariam was 17 when she went missing on her way to school at Forest Hill Collegiate on Sept. 14, 2009. She was spotted outside the building, where she left her brother at the entrance.
The teen had only recently been reunited with her family after arriving in Toronto from Tbilisi, Georgia when she disappeared. At the time she didn’t speak English that well and wasn’t very familiar with the city.
Authorities conducted extensive interviews, including questioning every student at Mariam’s school, scanned hours of security tape and canvassed the areas around her Shallmar Boulevard home and school.
Investigators also scoured the Ingram Transfer Station, near Keele and Eglinton, but the search for clues proved to be fruitless.
Police discovered her backpack on Oct. 9 in an alleyway near Mount Pleasant Road and Eglinton Avenue but it didn’t provide any key information on Mariam’s whereabouts.
Holding out hope Mariam will be found alive is proving to be difficult for her parents. Authorities admit they have nothing to go on and they’ve found no evidence to indicate an abduction or homicide.
The Makhniashvili’s have downsized to a smaller, one bedroom apartment where they are storing Mariam’s belongings in a closet.
But neither her parents nor the police are giving up hope Mariam will be found. Police held a news conference Tuesday that was uploaded simultaneously onto YouTube and will be translated into Mariam’s native language.
And now for the first time, online tips can be placed anonymously via Facebook.
Last week, the Missing Children Society of Canada put up a $10,000 reward for any information in the case.
Some people reported sightings of Mariam in Alberta. On Oct. 27, 2009 the RCMP received a report she’d been seen outside Calgary. On Dec. 2, 2009 authorities received another report she’d been spotted in Grand Prairie.
The RCMP said investigators found no evidence to suggest Mariam had ever been in the province.
