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  • Sister to pick up search in China

    Windsor Star, Canada
    Jan 3 2009


    Sister to pick up search in China


    By Donald McArthurJanuary 3, 2009


    Ani Ashekian decided to go on a trip to Asia. She had planned on
    travelling to China/India/Vietnam and Cambodia. She only had time to
    secure a visa to enter China and she decided she would get the other
    necessary visas while she was abroad. Ani left for Beijing China on
    October 24, 2008. According to her passport she entered Honk Kong on
    November 9th. She was communicating with family and friends every week
    or so until November 10th. Her original flight itinerary had her
    flying home from Beijing on November 30. While abroad, Ani changed her
    flight Itinerary so that she was scheduled to fly home from Delhi,
    India on December 15th.Photograph by: HandoutSossy Ashekian will leave
    Windsor for Hong Kong Monday to assist in the search for her sister
    Ani, who vanished in the city of seven million people nearly two
    months ago.

    She will join a growing team of volunteers circulating pictures of Ani
    on the bustling streets of Hong Kong, where a $8,000 reward ($50,000
    in Hong Kong currency) is being offered for information on Ani's
    mysterious disappearance.

    `She's going to go out and look for her sister,' said Rosie Kampstra,
    the eldest of the three Ashekian sisters. `Hopefully, Sossy can make a
    difference.'

    Ani Ashekian was raised in Windsor, where her sisters and family still
    live, and is a graduate of the University of Windsor and St. Joseph's
    high school. She had been working as a paralegal in Toronto.

    She left for Beijing Oct. 24 and was supposed to return home from
    Delhi, India, Dec. 15. She went missing in Hong Kong in mid-November
    and hasn't been heard from since. There is no record of her leaving
    the country. Her last contact with her family was a Nov. 10 text
    message sending birthday greetings to Kampstra's two-year-old
    daughter.

    The last time Ani's credit card was used was also on that date ' a
    disconcerting sign ' but her family is refusing to give up hope,
    noting there have been a dozen sightings in Hong Kong of someone
    fitting Ani's description.

    `I just know she's still out there. I just have that feeling inside
    that she's still around. I don't have that eerie feeling that
    something bad has happened to her,' said Kampstra. `I know we're going
    to bring her home.'

    Kampstra described her sister as `free-spirited' and a `strong person'
    who planned on moving to Buenos Aires, Argentina, after returning from
    Asia.

    Ani's boyfriend, Wenddell Walsh, returned home from Hong Kong earlier
    this week after several fruitless days spent searching and
    distributing flyers. The number of volunteers helping him grew each
    day thanks to coverage the story received in the Hong Kong media.

    In an interview with Global News, Walsh said police had surveillance
    tape footage of Ani withdrawing $1,000 from an ATM on Nov. 10.

    `She had looked over her shoulder a couple of times,' Wendell said in
    the interview. `We don't know if she was alone but we do know it was
    her.'

    Wendell and Kampstra both praised the work of Hong Kong investigators,
    who contact Kampstra almost daily with updates or seeking information
    about Ani. Kampstra also credited the Department of Foreign Affairs
    for its work on the case.

    Kampstra expressed her heartfelt thanks to the old friends and
    acquaintances who turned out for a fundraiser last Sunday at the
    Armenian Centre.

    The family is holding off on hiring a private investigator because
    they do not want to impede the police investigation. They have posted
    a reward of $50,000 in Hong Kong currency, roughly the equivalent of
    $8,000 in Canada.

    `You have to stay positive. That's the only way we're ever going to
    bring her home,' said Kampstra. `I keep telling my mom, `Tears aren't
    going to bring her home, mom; you've got to stay positive.''

    Anyone with any information can write [email protected] or check out
    the Facebook group entitled `Missing: Ani Ashekian.'


    Photo caption: Ani Ashekian decided to go on a trip to Asia. She had
    planned on travelling to China/India/Vietnam and Cambodia. She only
    had time to secure a visa to enter China and she decided she would get
    the other necessary visas while she was abroad. Ani left for Beijing
    China on October 24, 2008. According to her passport she entered Honk
    Kong on November 9th. She was communicating with family and friends
    every week or so until November 10th. Her original flight itinerary
    had her flying home from Beijing on November 30. While abroad, Ani
    changed her flight Itinerary so that she was scheduled to fly home
    from Delhi, India on December 15th.

    http://www.windsorstar.com/Sister+pick+sear ch+China/1138593/story.html
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