Woman desperate to find bag with passport after it was stolen in Winnipeg

WINNIPEG — Hours after arriving in Winnipeg, a woman says her bag filled with important documents was stolen outside her brother’s apartment.

After finishing her schooling in Edmonton, Bhaavya Trivedi planned on moving to Winnipeg to live with her brother. Bhaavya is originally from India, and says without the documents, she may have to leave the country.

On Friday afternoon, Trivedi arrived at the Winnipeg airport to meet her brother, Kushagra, who is studying at the University of Winnipeg. They took a cab to his apartment on the 300 block of Balmoral Street.

They unloaded her luggage from the taxi and started carrying the bags into his apartment. That’s when Bhaavya noticed her grey bag filled with her passport, education credentials and social insurance number (among many other documents) was gone.

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“It had everything….my Canadian certificates, Indian certificates, transcripts, tax forms, my pay stubs…” she said. “All these documents were ready to hand into for my permanent residency.”

They phoned 911 and filed a police report. She was told a detective would review the case as early as Monday.

“But that is the earliest,” she said. “It could still be six months or nine months. Who knows?”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "But that is the earliest," she said. "It could still be six months or nine months. Who knows?"

Desperate to find the documents, Bhaavya and her brother contacted the caretaker of the apartment to check out the security footage. She said there was footage of someone stealing her bag, which she told the police about.

The two also scoured through nearby dumpsters and pawn shops, hoping to find the documents. But so far they have come up empty handed.

Without the documents, Bhaavya said she may have to leave the country.

“I have extended my work permit until June. But after that I do not know what will happen,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I have extended my work permit until June. But after that I do not know what will happen," she said.

Bhaavya was supposed to take an exam in two weeks, which is necessary to apply for permanent residency. But without her passport, she cannot take it.

“I am very disturbed,” she said. “I don’t even want to press charges, I just want to find those documents.”