My Sister, Nicole Vienneau, Has Gone Missing in Syria
Summary (*Bi-Weekly Blog Updates are further down the page*)
My sister, Jacqueline "Nicole" Vienneau, a Canadian tourist, disappeared in Syria on Saturday, March 31st, 2007 at the age of 32. She was in her fifth month of a six-month solo adventure through West Africa and the Middle East. She was last seen by the desk clerk at 8:30 in the morning as she left the Cairo Hotel in Hama, two hours north of Damascus.
She definitely intended to return to the hotel as her backpack was left in her room along with the memory cards from her camera, full of photos. She also left her journals that include an entry made the night before she disappeared. Canadian police retrieved her Hotmail account email records indicating she attempted to login around 8:30 Friday night but was unable to (Syrian Internet connections are not reliable). Her last completed emails were sent Thursday night.
Nicole's guidebook was also left in her room. In the back of her Lonely Planet "Middle East" guidebook she wrote directions to a number of places in Syria that we believe she copied from the Cairo Hotel's copy of the Lonely Planet "Syria" guidebook. Nicole spoke with some guests about these locations earlier in the week and the hotel clerk indicating that on the morning she disappeared, she asked for directions to the "Beehive Houses", a local sightseeing destination, as well as Qasr Ibn Wardan (a nearby castle).
No one at these locations recalls seeing Nicole (and they are not heavily visited) and the Qasr Ibn Wardan logbook has a record of only one visitor, Amin Ben Yahia, a person of interest to us (b. 1984, Algerian/Swiss nationality, father is Abbas, mother is Monica) in hopes that he remembers something unusual about that day.
Nicole preferred taking local transit, but none of the minibus drivers or locals remembers seeing her. As a foreigner, Nicole stood out in all of Syria, but particularly in Hama where the majority of women in Hama dress in robes and cover their hair. The streets from the hotel to the minibus pick-up are main streets with lots of people, even at 8:30 in the morning.
In May 2007, I flew to Syria with Nicole's fiancé Gary to re-trace her steps and meet with police and local officials. Gary spent an additional two months criss-crossing Syria searching for clues. My mother joined Gary in Syria in July 2007 and met with the Grand Mufti as well as the Minister of the Interior. She also made a personal plea on Syrian television and we put ads in the newspapers and local flyers. Gary and my mother returned to Syria in April 2008 to raise awareness and follow up on leads with officials and the police.
My mother returned to Syria with Gary for a third visit in March 2009 and we continue to work with Syrian government and police officials on the investigation.
There is up to 2,250,000 Syrian pounds ($45,000) in reward money for information leading us to Nicole.
We are currently looking for other guests at the Cairo Hotel in case they spoke with Nicole. A list is at the bottom of this page.
For pictures of Nicole and what she was wearing when she disappeared, as well as relevant personal information and summaries of the search so far, please visit:
http://www.findnicolevienneau.com/
From the "official" website, you can also submit anonymous tips, make donations towards the search, view the picture gallery and download posters and Nicole's notes. Arabic versions of most pages are also available. Public comments can be made here to the blog.
You can always email me directly and anonymously at mattv99@hotmail.com
All comments and emails, public and private, are read immediately, but unfortunately I cannot respond to everyone. Feel free to respond in any language that you're comfortable with, though all of my responses will likely be in English.
June 16th (Evening):
Still no movement on the search for Nicole. We may meet with some people this week that specialize in getting government attention. Try and generate some activity on the Canadian side in hopes of pushing the Syrians to do more.
I've been distracted by some other activities so I haven't really put a lot into the search this month. My effort is really waning, but it's been over two years, I may have given all that I've got.
June 1st (Evening):
I missed my self-imposed bi-weekly schedule, but there hasn't been anything to say. The official website was down briefly because our domain name registration expired after two years. It's back up now.
As far as I am aware, we've received no news from Syria since Mom was there in March. When we're in Syria, everyone is rushing around doing things and promising to help, but as soon as we leave all our questions go un-answered. The Embassy isn't leaping at the chance to help, the Syrian police don't like to respond directly or unofficially, and there's almost no one we can trust in Syria anymore. We're all very down with the thought that this could be a cover-up of some sort and we'll never be able to find out what happened.
May 15th (Evening):
I've been following the case of Victoria Stafford, a local 8-year old that went missing just over a month ago. One of the reasons I have been following the story is that it is in the news every few days. This is because her mom is holding a press conference outside their home every day.
It appears to work - their Facebook group has over 122,000 people! I believe I read that there were 88,000 messages.
A month or two into the search, we were given the FBI's guide to finding missing people. It included tips on how to keep the search in people's minds and press conferences was one of them. The Stafford family has fully embraced this route. The problem for us was that it's a lot of stress and effort, and it seems strange to be making a spectacle every day. This isn't a criticism of the Staffords, it's a commentary on the difficulties of asking for help and making our problems someone else's problem. We're not used to it, and were uncomfortable with arranging vigils and so on. That is one of the many reasons why the two fundraisers organized by others were so fantastic - it didn't feel like we were doing it.
88,000 messages also comes with drawbacks. The newspapers are reporting how writers are suggesting the family is involved in the disappearance. Early on we had saw some really offensive comments in various blogs, but that's just the nature of the Internet. It's anonymous, so people say things they wouldn't say in real life. The Facebook site seems to have taken down the option to post comments as a solution. I think message boards allow people to become a little bit more engaged.
122,000 is a lot of people. I would be very surprised if this website has received even 50,000 hits, though I really have no idea. Once again, it felt "cheap" to be counting hits and so on, but it would have been a good idea. It would have let us keep track of waning interest, and possibly provided more factoids for our press interviews.
In the end, a local child is always going to generate more interest than an adult who disappeared in a foreign country. I do not think we would be much closer to finding Nicole if we had 50,000 more hits.
Another local search, for Christina Calayca, a 20-year old who disappeared while jogging in Rainbow Falls Provincial Park, ended about six weeks ago. Not because they found her, but because after 20 months of searching, her mother has decided that it has to end. Support and resources are dwindling and she's exhausted. The interview with her in the Toronto Star on March 30th was the first one that really captured what we're going through - the endless search after most people's attention has moved on. And that same feeling of being unable to grieve without knowing for certain that Nicole is gone for good.
That being said, these past two weeks there have been a small surge of emails letting me know that people are still there for us, reading and hoping for the best. They are appreciated. Our regular volunteer translator in Syria continues to assist us within a day of any request - he is truly fantastic.
Much like the past two+ years, we continue to follow up on some leads and try to work with Foreign Affairs and the Syrian police to find Nicole. It's a lot of work though, especially for my mom.
May 3rd (Evening):
A couple people have wondered whether my step-father accompanied my mother and Gary to Syria last month. He did indeed go with them. He is a key player in the search, tracking all the information (an increasingly burdensome duty) and organizing the trips and so on. He is also the person responsible for the official website. The search would have foundered years ago without his assistance. I tend to only mention a few people here by name in order to maintain privacy.
My mother also brought two advisors/experts to Syria with her to help with various investigation efforts. They are expensive, but invaluable.
Over in Syria, my mom was informed this week that there has been a cabinet shuffle. There is a new Minister of the Interior and Minister of Justice. The most significant impact is that any change like this means bringing people up to speed once again. And it's difficult to get anyone's attention or committment as they are learning the ropes. As the personnel in Syria have changed over the past two years, we've seen how searching for Nicole sometimes slips in priority.
The earlier optimism right after the trip to Syria has dimmed. Over the past two years many ex-Syrians have indicated that we're going to be led around on wild goose chases and we'll never get the truth out of the authorities. We've maintained hope that people are willing to help and find Nicole, but are starting to see evidence that some officials may not be as upfront as we would prefer. Mix that with the diplomatic dancing of Foreign Affairs, and it can get very frustrating.
April 26th (Noon):
I have returned from my 3-week honeymoon. It was a welcome break from all Nicole-related items. It wasn't a complete break however - I continued to check emails and keep in touch with everyone as circumstances permited. I was also reminded of Nicole every so often as my last big trip was with her in Egypt and Jordan. The various rituals of travel (planning out your adventures, figuring out where you're going to eat) are the same from trip to trip, and we also did quite a bit of hiking, much like we did with Nicole, so memories re-surfaced.
Despite the rush of activity when Mom and Gary were in Syria three weeks ago, nothing concrete has resulted yet. As always, everything moves slower than hoped. I may also be out of the loop a bit - tonight I'll have dinner with mom and get any additional updates.
Given the lack of new information coming through, I'm going to shift to a bi-weekly update schedule on the blog. I realize this will diminish readership, but there just isn't enough information to justify weekly posts. Of course, should something significant happen, it will be posted immediately.
April 5th (Morning):
Mom and Gary are back from Syria. I went over to mom's for an early morning review of the trip before Gary hopped on a flight back to Vancouver. The overall feeling was positive - the Syrians are fully engaged (even more than before) and there's a real sense that progress is being made in discovering what happened. New information was uncovered (but needs to be verified) and we continue to learn more about how Syria works.
Still no Nicole though.
We always have this feeling after these trips (this being the 3rd). Keeping that in mind, we're still more confident that this trip will "stick" now that Mom has returned. The Syrians will continue investigating some new avenues and keep us updating on what has been found.
Tonight I'll have a lengthier conversation with Mom and get the rest of the details. We had planned on releasing some additional information this week but those plans may be on hold as we don't want to jeopardize our investigations in Syria.
As an unrelated aside (honest!), I may be unavailable for much of the next few weeks. Updates will be sparse. Should anything significant happen, we will make sure to let everyone know.
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Additional Links:
Here are the guest lists for the Cairo Hotel (where Nicole was staying) and the Riad Hotel (right next door). Please look them over and let me know if you recognize anyone so we can ask them if they spoke with Nicole. Keep in mind that these are the phonetic translations of English names to Arabic and back, so they may not be spelled correctly (or even close to correctly).
The Cairo Hotel - Do You Know Anyone On This List?
Less Important:
The Riad Hotel (Arrived After March 28th) - Do You Known Anyone On This List?
The Riad Hotel (Arrived Before March 28th) Do You Known Anyone On This List?
Least Important:
The Citadel Hotel - Do You Known Anyone On This List?
On his own initiative, a friend of Nicole's in Vancouver has put up a "YouTube" video.
Another reader has done her own "YouTube" video as well.
Here's a TV interview with me regarding Nicole, if anyone is interested.
Original Post from April 22nd, 2007:
As a few of you are aware, I am the oldest of a medley of half- and step- siblings including an 18-year old brother, a 17.5 year old sister and a 29-year old brother. In addition to that I have a 32-year old sister who I didn't really get along with all that well growing up until she moved across the country for university and we spent some time apart. Three thousand kilometres can do wonders for a relationship, and we've gotten along a lot better now that we're both grown up and not fighting over Lego.
My sister likes going on long solo trips to third world countries. And by long, I mean that her shortest trip was around six months. Over the past 10-15 years, she has spent six to nine months in Asia, six to nine months in Latin America and six to nine months in south and east Africa. The last trip happened to coincide with the 2001 Magic Invitational that I was covering in Capetown, so she and I met up afterwards at Victoria Falls and spent three weeks travelling through Botswana, Namibia and Capetown. It was the best trip of my life - I recommend everyone visit.
Late last year my sister headed on out to west Africa for another seven months of travel. Starting in Morocco, her plan was to head through under-travelled countries such as Mali and Ghana, and then fly up to Egypt and the Middle-East, ending in Turkey. As she began her travels, I found myself in the awkward position of promising the Armoire a vacation and yet being unable to follow through. As a result, I was looking at other, non-Magic related, trips that I would still enjoy. Egypt had always been a dream and with my sister heading through at roughly the time we wanted to go, everything was gravy. (what exactly does that mean?)
After a month of travelling together, the Armoire and I left my sister in Jordan and came back mid-March. I didn't write anything about it because I've spent the past month doing nothing but talking about Egypt with friends and family so I was a bit weary of the subject. In summary: Egypt was okay but I wouldn't likely return, Jordan was fantastic and I see myself visiting the Middle-East again at some point in the future.
Whenever my sister announces a new trip, my parents start getting upset and begin worrying. They were certain that the two of us were in mortal danger in Africa (both times) and are always fretting about disease and mayhem. My sister's arrival in Lebanon in March was an occasion for much stress at Sunday night dinner with my mom.
One of the methods we use to make sure everything is okay is that my sister has to email or call home every fourteen days, or my mom will contact Foreign Affairs and have them hunt her down. This only had to happen once back in the 1990s for my sister to take it seriously and always contact us. She also is in regular communication with her ever-understanding boyfriend in Vancouver.
My sister hasn't emailed anyone since March 29th, roughly three and a half weeks ago.
We know she made it out of Lebanon and was in Syria. Her Syrian visa expired on April 5th, so we presume that she's in Turkey, but can't say for certain. My mom contacted Foreign Affairs on Thursday and they're checking if she crossed the border (we hope). But it's a long-weekend in the Middle-East so we haven't heard anything (perhaps tomorrow). They suggested that young girls can get caught up in things and forget to email, but she's not that young (my apologies to her in advance!) and she's not foolhardy - you don't successfully navigate all these trips by being silly.
I want to think that she's okay. Something along the lines of she's stuck in obscure mountain villages with no access to the outside world. But it seems increasingly unlikely. Maybe she's sending emails and they're somehow not getting through, but I can't imagine why. On the other hand, if something has gone wrong, wouldn't the local authorities have mentioned it to the Embassy? Does Canada even have a Syrian embassy?
It's very troubling. And there doesn't seem to be much you can do. We may start trying to contact all the budget hostels along the border (my sister uses the Lonely Planet to travel), but other than flying over with a photo, you're kind of left waiting for the government to do the work.
Some questions for the world:
1. What other reasonable explanations could there be for her not contacting us?
2. Any other ideas on how to find or reach her?
All my Turkish and Syrian readers are especially encouraged to post!
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vienneau) wrote,
worried
