The parents of Holly Ellsworth-Clark, the Calgary woman who went missing in Hamilton almost three months ago, say they’re heading back home to Alberta in the next few days.
A grateful Dave Clark says after months of putting up posters, canvassing Hamilton neighbourhoods and visiting shelters across Southern Ontario, he’s leaving the city with some hope he’ll see his daughter again.
“We’ve been doing this in Hamilton for quite a while,’ Clark told Global News.
“I’m just asking and hoping that people continue to look for her and continue to care as much as they have.”
Clark has been overwhelmed by the support and kindness he and wife Greta Ellsworth have received since coming to Hamilton in search of his 27-year-old daughter, who went missing Jan. 11.
“We’ve had so many people who express their care and their concern and their desire to be helpful. And all that is just absolutely wonderful to bear witness to.”
A little over a year ago, Holly moved from Calgary to Toronto and then on to Hamilton, pursuing a music career. A boyfriend and a band were the reason for her trek from Alberta to Southern Ontario.
Following a break-up with both, Holly made a move to Central Hamilton in October of 2019 to pursue another opportunity to join a group.
Ellsworth-Clark moved into a home with other musicians and a recording studio. However, the new band didn’t progress and Holly began pursuing a solo project, according to Clark.
After spending some time in Toronto with siblings over the Christmas break, Holly went back to Hamilton and that’s when the family began to notice a change in her behaviour with a number emotional phone calls.
The last time Clark heard from his daughter in January, he said she called in a panic, afraid for her life.
Hamilton police say Ellsworth-Clark left her home in the area of Sanford Avenue and Cannon Street around 4:00 p.m. on Jan. 11.
The last known sighting of Holly, according to police, was around 4:50 p.m. that same day as seen by a security camera in an area around Wentworth and Shaw Streets.
Clark and his wife started the search for their daughter when they touched down in Toronto on Jan. 12.
Friends and family have since organized a number of searches in central Hamilton neighbourhoods and plastered pictures of Ellsworth-Clark on signposts across Hamilton.
Clark believes the last time he saw his daughter alive was in another piece of security camera footage from Feb. 3, which showed a woman walking north of Barton Street East, near Wentworth Street North, on Shaw Street.
“Well, somebody who looks very much like her, has the same gait, the same height, the same haircut. So I would say the same boots that she was last seen wearing,” said Clark.
However, Hamilton police did not confirm the sighting saying that the footage was too dark and grainy to positively identify the person in the video.
Following a number of ground searches in January, and some unsubstantiated tips from the public, Clark’s family began expanding their quest across Southern Ontario and specifically shelters where they could talk to people who effectively live on the street.
“Ultimately what you need is somebody to just see her and tell you that they saw her and then identify her,” said Clark.
“If we go to those places in person and talk to people, we actually develop a better awareness of the situation and enlist people’s help in a better way,”
Upon his departure, Clark says his daughter Kate and her friends, who live in Toronto, will now take on any future needs in Hamilton periodically making visits with contacts they’ve made in the city.
“And beyond that, I don’t really know,” said Clark. “We’ll do what we can, basically — whatever we can.”
Clark leaves Hamilton humbled by the support he and his wife have received from Hamilton.
“Just general gratitude for everything that they’ve done. And that, as far as we’re concerned, means this really isn’t over.”
Holly Ellsworth-Clark is 27 years old, about six feet tall and 200 lbs. with an athletic build, and was last seen wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt, black pants, black boots and possibly carrying a black backpack.
Tips from the public can still be sent to bringhollyhome2020@gmail.com, and a Facebook group called Holly Clark Search will continue, according to family and friends.
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