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 findani@gmail.com 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.

ch+China/1138593/story.html