Ani, Ashekian, Hong Kong, disappear

It's been a year since Canadian tourist Ani Ashekian mysteriously disappeared in Hong Kong. Ani arrived in Hong Kong aboard a Dragonair flight from Xian on November 9, 2008. On November 10 she made a few bank withdrawals and sent an SMS home. Suddenly, she lost contact with everyone and remains nowhere to be found.

A frequent traveler, Ani Ashekian has been to several trips to South America, Europe, Caribbean and Costa Rica. She embarked on her first Asian tour which started on October 25 in Beijing. She was planning on a journey within China, Southeast Asia and then India by middle of December. But she disappeared the day after she arrived in Hong Kong. There was no further activity in her bank account, no further SMSs from her were observed and immigration records indicate that she has never left the city. She may have been last seen on CCTV footage making withdrawals from an ATM in Tsim Sha Tsui and was spotted at Chungking Mansions later.

Such incidents of people going missing rarely happen in Hong Kong, and there are already over 150 officers involved in the search operation. In addition to the police force, local volunteers, private investigators, psychics and even best-selling crime auther Michael Connelly were on hand to help look for the missing person. A cash reward of HK$50,000, later raised to HK$200,000, was put up. A website and two Facebook pages were set up to raise awareneness of Ani's disappearance.

Investigators can only think of possible reasons why she went missing. Did she leave Hong Kong on a boat undetected? Did she go hiking in the remote hills of Lantau or New Territories and have an accident? Did she run into the wrong crowd?

Ms Ashekian is 163cm tall, weighs 55kg and is of South Asian appearance. Anyone with information is asked to call the police on 2860 7834. Those interested in volunteering in Hong Kong can e-mail find.ani@gmail.com. Mr Walsh can be contacted at wenddell@hotmail.com.