TORONTO – A private funeral service for relatives and guests took place Saturday afternoon in Toronto for Mariam Makhniashvili.
Makhniashvili’s father, Vakhtang Makhniashvili, has been denied permission to attend the funeral by prison officials. He is serving a six-year jail term after pleading guilty to three counts of aggravated assault last year.
Mariam was 17 years old when she disappeared after
arriving at Forest Hill Collegiate on Sept. 14, 2009. Her remains were found in a wooded area earlier this month where police said the cause of death was likely a fall from “significant heights.”
Global
News takes a look back at the key events surrounding the Mariam Makhniashvili
file.
September 14, 2009: Mariam is last seen walking with her
14-year-old brother to their high school, Forest Hill Collegiate. According to
police, she had no money and no passport when she disappeared.
September 15, 2009: A missing-person notice is issued
by Toronto Police.
September 17, 2009: Police and family ask the public
for help in finding Mariam.
September 18, 2009: Police step up the search
for Mariam. Staff Insp. Larry Sinclair of the Toronto Police Service tells a
news conference that the search has been raised to level three, the highest
priority type of search.
September 23, 2009: Toronto police release video footage of Mariam,
taken one day before the teenager disappeared. The
security video was
taken at the north entrance to Union Station at 11:15 a.m. on September 13,
showing Mariam and her brother walking together.
The two were on their way to Marilyn Bell Park to assist, as
volunteers, with a YMCA program associated with Dragon Boat races.
On the same day, the mother of the missing teen urges her daughter-no matter
where she is-to call police.
September 30, 2009: Police distribute security
camera footage and post several appeals on Crime Stoppers, Facebook, YouTube
and Twitter.
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October 8, 2009: Mariam’s dark blue backpack isdiscovered. The bag is found with several school notebooks marked with her
name, less than three kilometres from where Mariam was last seen.
MAP: Key points and events in Mariam Makhniasvhili’s disappearance
View Missing person: Mariam Makhniasvhili in a larger map
October 15, 2009: Toronto Police make a direct appeal
to students at two high schools near where Mariam’s belongings were found.
October 27, 2009: On her 18th birthday,
Toronto Police seize computers at a public library near Forest Hill Collegiate.
“We have information that Mariam used those computers prior to her going
missing. So we are going to be seizing those and going through them for
investigative reasons, finding out who she was speaking with,” says Const.
Wendy Drummond.
November 6, 2009: A ground and air search finds no further evidence in
Mariam’s disappearance.
The
search of two Toronto parks for signs of Mariam lasts about an hour. The search
involved a number of officers and an OPP helicopter with heat and infrared
sensors.
November 9, 2009: Anunprecedented 6,000-homecanvas of the Bathurst Street and Eglinton Avenue neighbourhood where Mariam
lived turns up little, as do several searches of nearby parks and ravines.
December 2, 2009: Alberta RCMP issue a news release,
stating they received a report that a woman fitting Mariam’s description was
seen selling “dream catchers” in Okotoks, Alta.
December
19, 2009:
Alberta RCMP debunk the possible sighting of Mariam in Okotoks. Other tips
shortly after do not generate new leads.
May, 7 2010: Mariam’s
father, Vakhtang Makhniashvili, allegedly stabs a neighbor, Sean Ure, during a
confrontation.
September 10, 2010: A $10,000 reward is being offered
for any information about Mariam’s whereabouts.
November 1, 2010: Mariam’s parents file a missing-person report ten
hours after their son, Giorgi Makhniashvili, fails to return home after school.
Giorgi returns home shortly after 5 a.m the following day.
November 4, 2010: Vakhtang is charged with attempted murderand aggravated assault after he attacks married couple David and Delores Langer
in Toronto’s east end. Despite never having met him, the duo posted $50,000
bail for Vakhtang after his alleged attack on Ure.
Both
victims are taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
December 8, 2011: Mariam’s father is sentenced to six
years in prison after pleading guilty to a number of assaults. After time served, Vakhtang will spend approximately 4 years
and 11 months in a federal penitentiary.
February 28, 2012: Police contact Mariam’s mother after
human remains are found near Hwy. 401 and Yonge Street. It’s unknown if
the remains belong to Mariam, but standard protocol in Toronto requires police
to inform families with missing persons when remains are found within the
vicinity.
March 9, 2012: Toronto police say human remains found in a wooded area belong to Mariam. In a live presser, police say the cause of death was likely a fall from a “significant height.”
Photo credit: Nathan Denette /The
Canadian Press
March 23, 2012: Students from Mariam Makhniashvili’s school send their condolences to the teen’s family in advance of her funeral this weekend.
March 24, 2012: A private funeral service for relatives and guests took place Saturday afternoon in Toronto for Mariam Makhniashvili. The girl’s father, Vakhtang Makhniashvili, has been denied permission to attend the funeral by prison officials. He is serving a six-year jail term after pleading guilty to three counts of aggravated assault last year.
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