Alicia Ross

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Toronto cops investigate 'unusual' disappearance
CTV.ca News Staff

Police are searching for a Toronto-area woman whose disappearance they describe as "unusual."

Alicia Ross, 25, vanished from outside her home in Markham, a Toronto, Ont. suburb, around midnight Tuesday.

She failed to show up for work Wednesday at her job at a Hewlett-Packard office in Markham, and her car was still in the driveway of the home she shares with her parents.

Police have stopped short of saying foul play was suspected, but they have said the disappearance was curious.

"Normally, when you leave the house you take something," said Laurie Perks of York Regional Police. "As a woman, you take a purse or car keys or a wallet or something. But all of those things were left behind."

"It's an out-of-character incident at this point, and we are seeking the public's assistance ...to help us in our search.''

Police said Ross was last seen by "a close acquaintance" who is thought to be her boyfriend, Sean, at around midnight on Tuesday.

"I'm so emotional right now," he said Thursday, showing reporters pictures of he and Ross on vacation. "This is breaking my heart."

Police have combed through a wooded ravine near her home with canine units and have also searched with helicopters.

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Hundreds help in search for Toronto-area woman
CTV.ca News Staff

Hundreds of people have joined the search for Alicia Ross, a 25-year-old woman who went missing from her home in a suburb north of Toronto around midnight Tuesday.

Police have already combed through a 300-metre radius around the family's house with the help of dogs and helicopters. Now, they are searching a 600-metre radius with the help of about 200 volunteers.

"I'm here because I'm sick and tired of what is happening in the world," Linda Horner told CTV News. "I've got a 26-year-old and a 30-year-old and I just can't imagine what the parents are going through."

Ross's disappearance hasn't been ruled a homicide, but police say it is "suspicious," adding that foul play has not been ruled out.

"There is absolutely nothing to suggest foul play at this point in time," York region police officer Thom Carrique said at a news conference Friday.

"We have no evidence in relation to her disappearance, other than it is out of character for her, which causes concern. We have no evidence at this point in time. There are no leads. We are pleading with the public for any leads."

Also of interest to police appeared to be the fact that Ross left her belongings behind.

"Normally, when you leave the house you take something," said Laurie Perks of York Regional Police. "As a woman, you take a purse or car keys or a wallet or something. But all of those things were left behind."

The last known person to have seen Ross was her boyfriend, Sean Hine. He dropped Ross off around midnight at her home in Markham, where she lives with her mother, stepfather and siblings.

She didn't show up for work Wednesday at her job at Computer Impact Marketing, a Toronto-based firm that does consulting for corporate clients.

Hine was questioned by police on Wednesday about Ross's disappearance. In an interview with the Toronto Star yesterday, he said he believes he's the prime suspect.

"I've been pretty much the prime suspect," Hine said. "I've been interrogated. I'm going to need therapy when this is all done."

However, at the news conference on Friday, police indicated that he is not necessarily a suspect.

"From our perspective he is not a suspect, he is a witness that potentially has valuable information for us," Carrique said.

Hine and Ross met through work this spring, and have officially been a couple since Canada Day, Hine told the Star. Seven weeks into their relationship, they discussed getting a house together, Hine said.

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Alicia Ross

Alicia Ross and boyfriend Sean Hine


Alicia's boyfriend Sean

click images for larger view

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TORONTO -- A frantic search is on for a 25-year-old woman who disappeared in the night two days ago on the eve of her eagerly anticipated promotion at work.

The parents of Alicia Ross were tight-lipped yesterday about their missing daughter, who was last seen just after midnight Wednesday.

But police said the disappearance was "suspicious."

"We're quite concerned," Const. Laurie Perks said. "It's out of character for Alicia."

She said a "close acquaintance'' was the last to see the woman, outside her family's home in an upscale community in suburban Toronto.


Perks said that same acquaintance reported Alicia missing to police around 8 or 9 a.m. Wednesday after she failed to show up for work at a Markham computer firm.

Although she refused to identify the acquaintance, a man who identified himself as the missing woman's boyfriend said he was the last person to see her alive.

"This is breaking my heart. I loved her," the man said yesterday during a plea for Alicia's safe return.

Police grew especially concerned after finding Alicia had not taken her purse or her keys with her.

While still considered a missing person case, homicide detectives have been called in.

Search and rescue teams, with help from 60 volunteers, canine units and a police helicopter, scoured the ravine behind the woman's home for the second straight day. An expanded search was expected to resume today.

Friends said it was especially strange for Alicia not to go to work Wednesday as she had been excitedly expecting a promotion of some sort that day. She works in sales at Hewlett Packard.

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An anguished Markham, Ont. mother begged for the safe return of her 25-year-old daughter, missing since Wednesday.

"To anyone who may have any information as to where Alicia may be I beg you to come forward," Sharon Fortis said of her daughter Alicia Ross at a news conference Saturday.

"I wish no harm to anyone. Just the safe return of my daughter."

Ross didn't show up for work on Wednesday. Her car was still in the driveway of the home she shares with her parents.

Fortis said her daughter was happy and not suffering from depression or any other problem, adding Alicia was looking forward to a pending promotion at her job.

"She was very, very eager for the next day to come, the beginning of her possible new career move. We agree this was a fantastic summer for her.''

Police say there's no reason at this point to suspect foul play, but they do describe the circumstances as suspicious and out of character for Ross.

Hundreds of volunteers led by police spent Saturday searching for Ross in wooded areas, ravines and streets in the community that sits on Toronto's northeast boundary. They want to find either her or evidence that would help locate her.

Police say to date, they have found no such evidence. They expect the search to continue on Sunday.

Police think Ross was wearing a yellow tank top and baggy grey pants when she went missing.

"We are giving (the family) every reassurance that we are doing everything we can,'' said Chief Armand LaBarge of York police.

LaBarge said more volunteer searchers were welcome, and urged anyone with information to call the police.

The last person believed to have seen Ross is her boyfriend, who said he dropped her off at her home early Wednesday.

Police describe him as a person of interest but not a suspect.

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The boyfriend of missing 25-year-old Alicia Ross sat on the curb a few metres from the York Regional Police mobile command post, his arms wrapped around his legs, dark glasses hiding his eyes as he strained against the tears that made his chin quiver.

Sean Hine, 29, who had been dating Ms. Ross for a few months before her disappearance, said Ms. Ross's family asked that he not speak to the media. He also said the police want him to stay in contact with them, and he's happy to do anything to help the search for his missing girlfriend. Dozens of Ms. Ross's friends who stood in the school parking lot that was transformed into a staging post for the police search did not stop to speak to Mr. Hine, who was the last person known to see Ms. Ross. He dropped her at her family's home in Markham shortly before midnight on Tuesday. On Thursday, he told the Toronto Star that he was "pretty much the prime suspect."

Yesterday, as nearly 400 volunteers searched the area, police said they have no reason to suspect foul play. They also said that Mr. Hine is a person of interest, but not a suspect.

"We know that Alicia was dropped at her residence around midnight and the last person that we know of to see or have contact with her was her boyfriend," said Inspector Tom Carrique of York Regional Police.


"From our perspective, he is not a suspect. He is a witness that potentially has valuable information for us."

Police still have no leads in the case, and continue to describe Ms. Ross's disappearance as suspicious and out of character.

"She was very happy in her place of employment from our information, considered a productive worker, not known to not show up for work or have absentee problems," Insp. Carrique said.

The police called off their search about 2 p.m., yesterday as the weather worsened, but said the likely areas within a 600-metre radius of her Bronte Road home had all been covered.

A police helicopter, using thermal imaging to scan the heavily wooded ravines in the area, turned up nothing.

"There has been no evidence of Alicia anywhere in that area at this point in time," said Inspector Craig Rogers, head of police support services.

"There has been no indication or no direction that is leading us in one way or another."

The search was boosted by the huge outpouring of volunteers yesterday.

Susan Smith, a 45-year-old mother of two, said she felt obliged as a parent to join in the efforts to find the missing woman.

She was part of a team of 16 people, ranging in age from their teens to their late 50s that hacked through heavy bush near Bayview Avenue and Green Lane, searching for any sign of Ms. Ross. She is 5-foot-11 and 140 pounds with blond hair and green eyes, and was last seen wearing a yellow tank top and baggy grey pants.

Searchers were told to keep an eye out for scraps of clothing as well as any large mounds of earth or leaves.

Ms. Smith said, "We haven't resolved the problem [what has happened to Ms. Ross] yet, but [searching] makes us feel a little better."

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MARKHAM, Ont. -- The search is on again today for 25-year-old Alicia Ross who vanished from outside her Markham home early Wednesday.

The mother of the missing Ontario woman pleaded for the safe return of her daughter Saturday.

"We pray Alicia can be home soon so this can be old news," she said in a tearful address at a news conference that marked her first public appearance.

"Alicia, I promise to you, you will come home soon."

York Region police say Ross was last seen around the backyard of her home early Wednesday by her boyfriend, whom police consider a person of interest but not a suspect.

The next day, Ross failed to show up for work and her car remained in the driveway of the home she shared with her parents.

Police say they have no grounds to assume foul play was involved in the woman's disappearance but are calling the incident suspicious and out of character.

Standing beside her husband, Fortis said on Saturday that Ross had no reason to run away. She said her daughter was happy and not depressed, adding that Ross was looking forward to a pending promotion at work.

"Alicia was excited. She was extremely happy to know how she is appreciated at her job," Fortis said.

"She was very, very eager for the next day to come, the beginning of her possible new career move. We agree this was a fantastic summer for her."

On Saturday, police and hundreds of volunteers continued to search for clues in nearby wooded areas, ravines, creeks, and streets, hoping to locate a key piece of clothing or evidence that would help locate Ross.

So far, no leads or clues have been found, police said.

"We will continue our search," said Insp. Craig Rogers, who added the search process is expected to continue Sunday.

York police Chief Armand LaBarge expressed hope that Ross will be found.

"We are giving (the family) every reassurance that we are doing everything we can," he said.

LaBarge encouraged more volunteers to offer their help in the search and asked anyone with information as to Ross's whereabouts to contact police.

In her address, Fortis thanked police, the public and the media for their support.

"Family, friends, neighbours and even strangers are not letting us go through this alone," she said

Police believe Ross, who has an athletic build and long brown hair, was wearing a yellow tank top and baggy grey pants when she went missing.

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The family of a missing Markham, Ont. woman continued to live a nightmare as another day of searching turned up no clues as to her whereabouts.

"I can't get over it because it's so surreal," Sharon Fortis, mother of missing Alicia Ross, told reporters Sunday.

"It's not something that ever, in your worst nightmare, you would imagine would happen to you. And for some reason, it's happening to us," she said, her voice breaking.

Police say the 25-year-old Ross was last seen in the backyard of her home in the northeast Toronto bedroom community -- sometime between late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

She didn't show up for work later on Wednesday, and her car was still parked in the driveway of the home she shared with her parents.

Ross's boyfriend Sean Hine, 29, was the last one to see her, but police say he is not a suspect.

Hine called 9-1-1 just after midnight on Tuesday to say Ross had vanished. Her parents had seen her about one hour before that.

Since Friday about 60 police officers have led more than 700 volunteers of a search through Markham, concentrating on an area about 600 metres in radius from Ross's home.

While they haven't treated this as a criminal investigation to this point, as the days go by, police say they must give more weight to the possibility someone did something deliberately bad to Ross.

"We are continuing to re-evaluate all people who had contact with Alicia up to the point of her disappearance," said Insp. Thomas Caddique of the York Regional Police.

"We will continue to interview, we will continue to do background checks."

But police emphasized no one has yet to be categorized as a suspect.

The search will continue on Monday.

Fortis had a message for her daughter: "You keep strong, and you just know how we are not giving up. I will never, ever give up. You will come home, Alicia, you're going to come home."

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A team of volunteers set out Monday morning for yet another day of searching for a Markham, Ont. woman who has been missing for six days.

The brother of Alicia Ross, 25, was part of the search party that spent the morning scouring dumpsters and fields.

Since Alicia vanished from her parents' home sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday, more than 1,000 volunteers have helped investigators comb nearby wooded areas, ravines, creeks and streets. But, the searches have turned up no clues.

Police say the focus of their probe is shifting from a missing person investigation to a criminal inquiry.

"We are concentrating our focus on the possiblity that foul play may exist and may be responsbile for her disappearance," Insp. Thomas Carrique of the York Regional Police told reporters Monday.

Police say they will soon be scaling back the ground searches and redirecting their efforts elsewhere.

"We are continuing to re-evaluate all people who had contact with Alicia up to the point of her disappearance," Carrique said Sunday.

"We will continue to interview, we will continue to do background checks."

One of those people being interviewed is Ross's boyfriend Sean Hine, 29, who was the last person to see her. Police continue to say he is not a suspect though they say he is a "person of interest".

Sharon Fortis, Alicia's mother, told reporters Sunday says she is still in shock by the whole experience.

"It's not something that ever, in your worst nightmare, you would imagine would happen to you. And for some reason, it's happening to us," she said, her voice breaking.

Fortis had a message for her daughter: "You keep strong, and you just know how we are not giving up. I will never, ever give up. You will come home, Alicia, you're going to come home, safe and sound."

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Police and hundreds of volunteers are expanding their search Monday for missing 25-year-old Alicia Ross of Markham, Ont.


Alicia Ross in an undated police handout photo (CP PHOTO/HO/York Region Police)
They are on day six of the search, looking in wooded areas, ravines, creeks and city streets - and so far, have found nothing.

Ross was last seen on August 17 in the backyard of her home in Markham, a suburb north of Toronto.

She is female and white, with an athletic build and long straight brown hair with blonde streaks. She was last seen wearing a yellow tank top and grey pants.

York Regional police say foul play is not suspected, but call her disappearance "very much out of character."

Ross's mother, Sharon Fortis, says she still believes her daughter will come home.

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Police in Markham, Ont. say the focus of their investigation into the disappearance of Alicia Ross is shifting from a missing person investigation to a criminal inquiry.

"We are concentrating our focus on the possiblity that foul play may exist and may be responsible for her disappearance," Insp. Thomas Carrique of the York Regional Police told reporters Monday.

Police say they will soon be scaling back the ground searches and redirecting their efforts elsewhere.

A team of volunteers set out again Monday morning for yet another day of searching for Ross, 25, who has been missing for six days. Her brother was part of the search party that spent the morning scouring dumpsters and fields.

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This is the link to view the York Regional Police press release.


www.police.york.on.ca/index.htm


When you click this link, scroll to the bottom of the page and then click on the picture of Alicia with the heading MISSING. It will take you to the press release.

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MARKHAM, Ont. -- Hope that a missing 25-year-old Ontario woman would be found alive all but faded away yesterday as police warned foul play may have played a role in the mysterious disappearance last week of Alicia Ross.

"In the absence of any evidence in and around the area of the residence as to where Alicia may be, we start to turn our focus more towards the possibility of foul play," York police Insp. Tom Carrique told a news conference.

Until yesterday, police had been reluctant to suggest the woman was a victim of crime because of a lack of leads.

Police were set to scale back their search for Ross late yesterday after nearly 1,000 volunteers combed through a 31-square-kilometre area surrounding her home.

The woman was last seen early Wednesday around the backyard of her home by her boyfriend. Ross's boyfriend, Sean Hine, is not a suspect but remained "a person of interest" because he was the last person to see her before she vanished, Carrique said.

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Police north of Toronto have opened up a dedicated tip line for anyone with information into the disappearance of 25-year-old Alicia Ross.

That toll-free number is: 1-866-287-5025. Or they can call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. Tips can be left anonymously or people can speak directly with a CrimeStoppers official, 24 hours a day.

"We request and encourage family and friends of anyone involved with this disappearance of Alicia Ross to contact police," Det. Const. Todd Snooks told a Tuesday news conference.

Ross went missing from her family home one week ago. After six days of fruitless searches, police have wrapped up a ground search, saying they uncovered no clues that could help them with their investigation.

Police said Monday that they've ruled out the possibility Ross simply stepped away from her house or had some kind of accident, saying they are now focusing on the possibility she was met with "foul play."

Ross' boyfriend, Sean Hine, 29, was the last known person to see Ross before she disappeared late Tuesday night or early Wednesday. He phoned 911 at 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning to report Ross missing.

Ross' car was still in the driveway of the home she shared with her parents in Markham, north of Toronto. She had left behind her purse and car keys.

Police say Hine is not a suspect in Ross' disappearance, though he is a "person of interest."

Insp. Thomas Carrique of the York Regional Police says police will continue with their forensic investigation, canvassing the area, and interviewing witnesses.

"We will be continuing to conduct focused searches in areas where we receive information in relation to the investigation," he told reporters.

"We'll continue to follow up on tips. We will be exploring every investigative avenue possibly available to us."

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Alicia Ross's boyfriend busted for drunk driving
CTV.ca News Staff

The boyfriend of missing Toronto woman Alicia Ross was arrested for impaired driving on Sunday, police confirmed with CTV Toronto late Monday night.

Sean Hine, who's not a suspect in the missing person investigation, was taken into custody and charged with the impaired operation of a vehicle in Newmarket, about 50 km north of Toronto.

Hine was held overnight and had his license suspended for 90 days.

The news comes on the same day that police announced their focus into Ross's disappearance was shifting from a missing person investigation to a probe of clues that might indicate foul play.

"We are concentrating our focus on the possibility that foul play may exist and may be responsible for her disappearance," Insp. Thomas Carrique of the York Regional Police told reporters Monday.

Police say they will soon be scaling back the ground searches and redirecting their efforts elsewhere.

A team of volunteers set out again Monday for yet another day of searching for Ross, 25, who has been missing for six days. Her brother was part of the search party that spent the morning scouring dumpsters and fields.

Since Alicia vanished from her parents' home sometime between late Tuesday and early Wednesday, more than 1,000 volunteers have helped investigators comb nearby wooded areas, ravines, creeks and streets. But, the searches have turned up no clues.

Police say they are shifting the focus of their probe.

"We are continuing to re-evaluate all people who had contact with Alicia up to the point of her disappearance," Carrique said Sunday.

"We will continue to interview, we will continue to do background checks."

One of those people being interviewed is Hine, 29, who was the last person to see her. Police continue to say he is not a suspect, though he is a "person of interest." Hine phoned 911 at 10 a.m. EDT on Wednesday morning to report Ross as missing.

Sharon Fortis, Alicia's mother, told reporters Sunday says she is still in shock by the whole experience.

"It's not something that ever, in your worst nightmare, you would imagine would happen to you. And for some reason, it's happening to us," she said, her voice breaking.

Fortis had a message for her daughter: "You keep strong, and you just know how we are not giving up. I will never, ever give up. You will come home, Alicia, you're going to come home, safe and sound."