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Mariam Makhniashvili: Disappearance, investigation and discovery

  • Miriam's parents make a plea for her safe return

    Miriam's parents make a plea for her safe return
    The parents of Mariam Makhniashvili make a public plea for her safe return. She had been last seen the Monday of that week after she and her brother had arrived for classes at Forest Hill Collegiate. They separated before entering the school because Miriam, 17, told her brother it was easier to go in a different door. She never arrived in class.
  • Search for Miriam highest priority

    Search for Miriam highest priority
    Police announce their search for Mariam has escalated to the "highest priority" search, because her disappearance was out of character and she is not familiar with Toronto or with Canada. "To date, we don't have any evidence of foul play," Toronto Police staff Insp. Larry Sinclair said at the time.
  • Miriam kidnapped?

    Miriam kidnapped?
    Mariam's father said his eldest child must have been kidnapped. "It's unimaginable for her to do something like this, even to go somewhere without telling us for three minutes," Vakhtang Makhniashvili said.
  • Police hold assembly at Miriam's school

    Police hold assembly at Miriam's school
    Toronto Police hold a rare assembly at Mariam's school, addressing some 1,000 junior and senior students, hoping someone in the crowd will have information and come forward.
  • Mariam's mother issues a public plea

    Mariam's mother issues a public plea
    Mariam's mother Lela issued a public plea urging her daughter - wherever she was - to call police or reach out to anyone who could help her. Court documents retrieved that day also revealed that Vakhtang Makhniashvili faced charges related to an incident in which he allegedly masturbated in a parked car outside a toddler day-care facility in downtown Los Angeles last November. He was acquitted of all charges in April 2009.
  • Police issue last images of Miriam

    Toronto Police issue new photographs and the last-known video taken of Mariam before her disappearance. They hoped the security camera footage from Union Station would help develop some leads.
  • Police use helicopters

    Toronto police used helicopters to scour Earl Bales Park in North York for any signs of Mariam — evidence or otherwise.
  • Police have no leads

    Police say they have "absolutely no leads" that would help them crack the case.
  • Miriam's backpack found

    Miriam's backpack found
    A backpack and school books belonging to Mariam are found in a damp, secluded parking lot, spurring police to call it an "important breakthrough" in the weeks-long search for the 17-year-old girl and raising more questions over how the backpack made it from Forest Hill Collegiate to a parking lot near a patch of condos where she had no apparent connection.
  • Police hold assembly at Miriam's school

    Police hold an assemblies on Mariam's disappearance at Northern Secondary School in hopes students will provide some leads.
  • Police seize computers

    Police seize two dozen computers from two city libraries as part of an investigation into her disappearance. Six were taken from Forest Hill Public Library, next to Mariam's Forest Hill Collegiate school on Eglinton Avenue West, and 21 more were seized from Barbara Frum Public Library, near the corner of Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue West. This happened on the day Mariam was supposed to turn 18.
  • Police search Earl Bales Park again

    Police conduct another search of Earl Bales Park and Sherwood Park, tracking by air and on the ground for evidence. They come up empty handed.
  • Police announce canvas

    Police announce that 60 officers will canvas 6,000 homes in the Eglinton Avenue West and Yonge Street neighbourhood during the next three weeks as part of a ramped up effort to find Mariam.
  • Police continue canvas

    Police detectives continue their canvass people on the street and comb a garbage dump near Keele Street and Eglinton Avenue West hoping to uncover some evidence.
  • Police interview students

    Toronto police return to Forest Hill Collegiate Institute to interview 980 students in hopes some students will be able to share some information. Very few had even met Mariam, who had barely started at Forest Hill before her disappearance.
  • Reports of Miriam sightings

    Reports of Miriam sightings
    Reports emerge that Mariam may have been spotted in Alberta. Police later debunk reports.
  • Police arrest Miriam's father

    Mariam's father, Vakhtang Makhniashvili is arrested and charged with a violent stabbing that put another resident of his Toronto apartment building in hospital. Mr. Makhniashvili allegedly banged on the door of his neighbour's apartment at around 7:30 p.m. - reportedly over a noise complaint - before forcibly entering and stabbing the 26-year-old resident in the stomach, police said.
  • Police offer reward for information

    A $10,000 reward is offered for any information about Mariam's whereabouts.
  • Miriam's brother goes missing

    Mariam's brother George goes missing. "He went to school but he didn't go inside. That's all we have right now," Vakhtang Makhniashvili said. "We are very worried. The police are working on it." The circumstances of the boy's disappearance are strangely similar to those of his sister's. He returns the next day unharmed and apologizes for his behaviour.
  • Miriam's dad charged with attempted murder

    Miriam's dad charged with attempted murder
    Vakhtang Makhniashvili is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and breaching his bail conditions. The alleged stabbing in May — reportedly following a noise complaint — put a resident of his Toronto apartment building in hospital.
  • Miriam's dad pleads guilty in unrelated incident

    Vakhtang Makhniashvili pleads guilty to aggravated assault in the stabbing of three people, including a neighbour he suspected of being involved in his daughter Mariam's disappearance.
  • Police investigate Miriam sighting

    Police investigate a potential sighting of Mariam on the same day her father is sentenced to six years in prison for a series of violent knife attacks. "This is a very sad case that has had serious consequences for many," the judge noted in her sentencing decision. "It is a case where a mentally ill man suffered a horrific event in his life and subsequently made decisions that led to equally horrific consequences.
  • Police find body

    Police find body
    Police receive reports of human remains in a wooded area near Highway 401 and Yonge Street earlier in the week, discovered by two people walking in the area. They phone Mariam's mother, believing the remains could possibly belong to the young woman.
  • Police confirm Miriam's body found

    Police confirm Miriam's body found
    Police confirm the human remains are that of Mariam Makhniashvili. Her injuries were consistent with a "fall from a significant height," from an overpass. Police notified her parents Friday morning.