Police Offer $100,000 Reward for Whereabouts of Abducted Ontario Woman Elnaz Hajtamiri

An Ontario Provincial Police logo is shown during a press conference in Barrie, Ont., on April 3, 2019. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

A reward of $100,000 is being offered to anyone with information leading to the location of a woman who was abducted from a residence in Ontario a year ago, say the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

“Elnaz Hajtamiri has been missing for one year. On Jan. 12, 2022, she went missing from an address at Wasaga Beach. Police continue to investigate, and the OPP and York Regional Police are now offering a $100,000 reward for information on her location. If you can assist, please call Crime Stoppers or the OPP at 1-888-310-1122,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said in a video.

At a press conference announcing the reward on Jan. 12, OPP Det. Ins. Martin Graham said the fact that nothing has been seen or heard from Hajtamiri for an entire year since her abduction is “incredibly rare.”

“My biggest hope is that she is alive. My greatest fear is that she is not,” he said.

Police released sketches of two of her kidnappers for the first time on Jan. 12.

Graham described the first suspect as roughly six feet tall, with light brown skin and a long, narrow face. The second suspect is estimated to be five feet nine with darker skin, and was wearing white cream shoes with a plastic toecap. He also wore cotton black gloves and carried imitation handcuffs. A third suspect is about five foot nine inches with lighter skin, possibly of Middle Eastern origin, who was believed to be carrying a firearm in his jacket.

Hajtamiri was at a home in Wasaga Beach, Ont., when three men dressed in fake police gear barged in and “arrested” her. Footage shows three masked men putting Hajtamiri into a 2016 to 2022 model White Lexus RX-350, Graham said.

He said Hajtamiri’s ex-boyfriend, Mohamad Lilo, and two other suspects who were involved in a previous kidnap and murder attempt on Hajtamiri that occurred in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto, in December 2021, have been arrested by York Regional Police.

A month prior, Hajtamiri was allegedly assaulted with a frying pan in an underground parking lot in Richmond Hill, reported CTV. She suffered a head injury from the attack and reportedly required around 40 stitches to her forehead.

Lilo, 35, has been charged with attempted murder and attempted abduction in connection with that incident. Two others, Riyasat Singh, 23, of Mississauga and Harshdeep Binner, 24, of Brampton, were also arrested and charged in the attack. The two men were on a Canada-wide wanted list, according to CTV.

Lilo was also charged with abduction in relation to Hajtamiri’s January 2022 kidnapping, though the police are still on the lookout for the three other suspects.

‘Do the Right Thing’

During the Jan. 12 press conference, Graham read a statement from Hajtamiri’s mother, Fariba, who urged anyone with information of her daughter’s location to “do the right thing” and share that knowledge.

“It is difficult to face the fact that it has been one long painful year since we last saw our beautiful daughter Elnaz. We open our eyes every morning thinking this will be the day she calls to tell us she is alive and safe. But that day never comes,” she said.

“We are perpetually living in a limbo of emotions. And until we know what happened to her, we can’t break out of this endless loop and move forward with the next stage of grief—acceptance.”

“We know there are people out there who have information and who may be contemplating whether to come forward,” Fariba added.

“We pray that you will do the right thing and help us out of the suffering and bring justice for Elnaz.”