Angry in the Great White North

Here is the alert:

Missing girl, Yee Wah Ho (Eva Ho) 17, 52 Division

Monday, October 16, 2006 - 3:07 PM
52 Division
416-808-5200

The Toronto Police Service is requesting the assistance of the public in locating a missing girl.

Yee Wah Ho (Eva Ho) 17, was last seen on Monday, August 14, 2006, in the Scarborough area.

She is described as Asian 5'8", 155 lbs., with long black hair with brown streaks, and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black hoodie with a monkey on the back and front, dark blue jeans with pink or red belt, Puma black flip-flops and a Guess purse.

Eva frequents the Pacific Mall, in the Kennedy Road/Steeles Avenue area, as well as various internet chatrooms, including MSN. [emphasis added]

Anyone with information is asked to call 52 Division at 416-808-5200 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or online at www.222tips.com.

Just to be sure, I went through the last dozen alerts in my inbox, and this is the first that provided information about where the virtual girl likes to frequent, in addition to where the physical girl is likely to be found.

I'm sure this is not the first missing girl in Toronto who happened to frequent chatrooms.

Are the police hoping she will enter one of her favourite e-haunts from wherever she has run off to? Are the police hoping someone will contact her via the chatrooms and convince her to come home?

Or do the police have information to suggest that her disappearance is somehow linked to the chatrooms? Are they hoping that someone out there will recall which room Eva was in most recently, and the conversations she was having?

Either way, it seems like a long shot. Still, it's an interesting move on the part of the police.