TORONTO — Police have released surveillance video they believe shows missing Markham woman Taneesha Brown briefly talking with an unknown man minutes after she was last seen.
Investigators are also using the footage to help guide their search, and are checking nearby ponds.
The footage made public Monday on YouTube shows a woman walking across the near-empty parking lot of Bur Oak Secondary School in Markham around 10:48 p.m. Tuesday and briefly chatting with the man before walking away in a southbound direction.
Investigators with York region police have said Brown was last seen at 10:30 that night at her aunt’s home in the McCowan Road and Castlemore Avenue area — a short distance from the school — and told her family members she was stepping out for some fresh air but never returned.
READ MORE: Police seek help locating 25-year-old Markham woman missing since Tuesday
On Monday, they said Brown is also believed to have attended an event at Bur Oak Secondary that night.
The man is described as a witnesses, not a suspect, and he is asked to contact police.
Police are also focusing search efforts on the direction Brown is recorded heading in, as the force’s marine unit began scouring waters west of the high school as they try to locate her.
A remotely operated vehicle will be checking open water in the partially frozen ponds, police said Monday.
Investigators and family members have said they have received no information on her possible whereabouts and are increasingly concerned for her well-being, as they believe she is not suitably dressed for the weather.
Uriel Brown said his daughter had mental health issues and that he had introduced her to the teachings of the Nation of Islam in hopes it would help her instead of medication.
Brown is described by police as a black woman standing 5’5″ tall, weighing 122 pounds, with black shoulder-length hair and pink highlights.
She was last seen wearing a traditional Muslim outfit consisting of a white, knee-length dashiki, with white pants underneath, a white hijab on her head and carrying a black purse.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the York Regional Police #5 District Criminal Investigations Bureau at 1-866-876-5423, ext.7541, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-tips, leave an anonymous tip online at http://www.1800222tips.com or text your tip to CRIMES (274637) starting with the word YORK.
WATCH ABOVE: Taneesha Brown, 25, vanished from her aunt’s house Tuesday. Police are concerned for her well-being. Mark Carcasole reports.
Comments