The daughter of a missing New Westminster mother says she’s worried the focus in the case is shifting from the search for her mother.
Nirla Sharma has been missing since early Monday morning, when she vanished from her home in New Westminster’s Queensborough neighbourhood.
Sharma’s husband Rishi was charged in recent months with uttering threats against his wife, but her daughter Vanessa says it has nothing to do with the case.
“The way it painted the picture is putting the blame on him and that’s not true. What happened in the past happened in the past, every single relationship has issues,” she said.
“It’s completely separate, what my biggest fear is if this came out all of the attention would go away from my mom and towards my dad, which is exactly what happened.”
Vanessa said her father is equally devastated by her mother’s disappearance, and she argued police and search and rescue would not still be combing the streets if they thought he was responsible.
The family says it has called all local shelters and hospitals to no avail. They spent Thursday evening postering high-traffic areas of Queensborough in the hopes that someone has seen their mother.
Coquitlam Search and Rescue joined the hunt Thursday, focusing its efforts on the the shores of the Fraser River, parks and industrial areas.
New Westminster police have tasked their major crimes unit with the investigation, and are calling on anyone with dash cam video from the area early Monday morning to come forward.
“We’ve reviewed a lot of video evidence and we continue to do that,” said Sgt. Jeff Scott.
“There’s been some footage where it’s a person who matches the description but we’re not certain it’s her.”
Sharma’s family heard the front door chime as it opened around 4 a.m. Monday morning, and when they got up in the morning found she’d left her wallet, keys and phone at home.
Sharma is described as South Asian, five-foot-three, 138 pounds, with a slim build and medium complexion. She has short black hair and brown eyes.
Sharma has a tattoo on her left arm of an OM symbol, and tattoos of a crown on her right wrist, a rose on her tailbone and a design on her left ankle.
She was last seen wearing pink pajamas, but she may be wearing a black jacket with a hood and orange Nike shoes.
Police are asking for the public’s help finding her.
Anyone with information is asked to call NWPD at 604-525-5411 or if she is seen to call 911.
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