On November 28, 2012, 26-year-old Emma Fillipoff was last seen standing barefoot outside the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia. Hours earlier, she’d called her mother in tears, saying she wanted to come home. When her mother arrived that night, Emma was gone and she’s never been seen since.
The Artist From Perth
Emma Fillipoff was born on January 6, 1986, in Perth, Ontario, to Shelley and James Fillipoff. She was one of four children.
In school she was creative and independent, often spending extra hours in the art room or writing in her notebook.
After her parents separated, she became more private, spending long afternoons sketching by the Tay River or sitting alone in the park.
At 18 she left Canada to teach English in China. When she returned, she earned diplomas in photojournalism and culinary arts.
By 2011, at 25, she had moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where she worked seasonally at Red Fish Blue Fish on the Inner Harbour. She was quiet, dependable, and precise someone who did her work carefully and without fuss.
When the restaurant closed for the winter on October 31, 2012, Emma said she’d be back in the spring. It was the last confirmed plan anyone could verify.
Signs of Fracture
By early November 2012, Emma’s life in Victoria had started to shift. She moved out of her shared apartment on Redfern Street and began staying at the Sandy Merriman Women’s Shelter, a small emergency facility downtown.
Staff said she was polite and soft-spoken, always tidy and thoughtful, but restless. She often took long walks at night, sometimes barefoot, and carried her belongings in reusable grocery bags.
In phone calls to her mother, Shelley, Emma sounded increasingly anxious. She spoke about needing space, about feeling watched, and about plans to move home to Ontario though her plans changed daily.
On November 23, Shelley booked a flight to Victoria, worried her daughter was in distress. Emma told her not to come. Hours later, she called back, saying, “Please come.”
When Shelley arrived on the morning of November 28, Emma was gone. She had left the shelter that afternoon without her passport, laptop, or most of her clothes.
That night, she was seen barefoot at a 7-Eleven on Government Street, buying a prepaid cell phone and a $200 Visa gift card. The clerk said she seemed calm but distracted, standing outside for nearly ten minutes before walking into the rain.
The Final Hours
On the night of November 28, 2012, Victoria police received multiple calls about a barefoot woman pacing near the Empress Hotel. It was raining and cold, just above freezing.
Around 7:15 p.m., officers found Emma standing barefoot beside her van on Burdett Avenue. The van was packed with her belongings books, art supplies, and camping gear but the keys were missing.
Police spoke with her for nearly 45 minutes. Their body language was calm; hers was distant but polite. She told them she was fine and didn’t need help. Since she hadn’t broken any laws and didn’t appear intoxicated, they let her go.
Minutes after the officers left, Emma walked toward the Inner Harbour, holding her shoes in one hand. A nearby security camera caught her reflection in the glass doors of the Empress Hotel at 7:17 p.m. It was the last verified image of her alive.
At 7:30 p.m., she called a taxi but told the driver she couldn’t afford the ride and walked away. Several witnesses later reported seeing a woman matching her description near the Johnson Street Bridge, confused and shivering. None could say what happened next.
The Search
Police impounded Emma’s van on November 29, 2012. Inside were her passport, wallet, laptop, and journals filled with drawings and notes. Nothing pointed to a planned disappearance.
Officers searched the surrounding area with dogs and infrared helicopters. Divers combed the harbour. For days, nothing surfaced not a shoe, not a trace of movement on security cameras after 7:17 p.m.
Shelley Fillipoff stayed in Victoria, organizing search parties and distributing thousands of flyers. She appeared on local news, appealing directly to Emma. “You are not in trouble,” she said in one broadcast. “I just want you safe.”
Public tips came in from across Canada Victoria, Vancouver, Nanaimo but none confirmed. Some claimed to see a barefoot woman near bus stations or hostels; others mentioned a quiet hitchhiker heading north. Each lead ended in the same place: nowhere.
By winter’s end, the trail had gone completely cold.
The Theories
Over time, three main theories emerged about what happened to Emma Fillipoff.
1. Accidental Death
Police initially believed Emma may have wandered into the water after her encounter with officers. Temperatures that night hovered near freezing, and she was barefoot. Despite multiple dives and sonar sweeps, no body was ever found, and tidal currents could have carried remains away from Victoria’s Inner Harbour.
2. Voluntary Disappearance
Some investigators considered that Emma may have chosen to leave voluntarily. Her journals revealed feelings of disconnection and a desire to escape urban life. She had spoken about moving to the woods, living “off the grid,” and even changing her name. Yet she left her identification, passport, and money behind, suggesting no plan to start anew.
3. Foul Play
The third theory points to possible abduction or harm after her final sighting. Witnesses later reported seeing a distressed woman near the Johnson Street Bridge that night, but police couldn’t confirm if it was Emma. In 2014, a man in Vancouver claimed she’d spoken to him near a shelter, barefoot and confused. The lead was never verified.
In 2018, a new report came from Campbell River, British Columbia, where a man believed he saw Emma in a library. Police reviewed surveillance footage and found nothing to support it.
None of the three theories have been proven. Each remains open, suspended in the same uncertainty that began on November 28, 2012.
Aftermath
In the years since Emma’s disappearance, her mother, Shelley Fillipoff, has led the search almost alone. She has returned to Victoria dozens of times, speaking with police, reviewing files, and organizing new searches each November.
Shelley founded the nonprofit Help Find Emma Fillipoff to keep the case public and assist other families of missing adults. She still maintains a website, social media pages, and an active hotline for verified tips.
Victoria Police continue to classify the case as open and active. They’ve received hundreds of tips since 2012, but none have produced new evidence.
Anyone with information about Emma Fillipoff’s disappearance is urged to contact the Victoria Police Department at 250-995-7654 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
