The family of a missing Barrie woman is pleading for help after the 26-year-old has not been seen for more than 10 days.
Autumn Shaganash, 26, was last seen the night of Friday, June 9, 2023, in Barrie, Ont., leaving her family’s home. She was last heard from the following day.
The family is urging anyone with information to come forward.
“Action should be taken. The sooner, the better because time is of the essence right now. Every day, every hour, something could be worse,” cousin Kimberly Moore told Global News.
A video shared with Global News shows Shaganash leaving her home shortly after 9 p.m. on Friday. Minutes later, she can be seen on surveillance video passing a nearby convenience store and crossing the street to meet someone.
Shaganash’s sister Lili-Anne Moore says the last time she heard from her sister was on Saturday, June 10, just after 9:30 a.m. asking her for a ride, but she says her sister’s phone had been turned off when she tried to respond.
“We know that she is in danger and unwillingly out there. This is not like her at all,” Shaganash’s sister says.
Since the 26-year-old’s disappearance, her family says they’ve been able to gain access to her laptop and look through her social media exchanges and see all of the people she was in contact with that night.
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“She was messaging someone early Saturday morning, saying that she was at this address. She didn’t give a house number or anything, but she gave us a street name, and around the same time, she did text me to come pick her up,” sister Lili-Anne Moore says.
Her family says Shaganash was able to save several snap chats from that night that showed a male and the inside of a home and a street name before her phone was turned off.
Peter Leon, corporate communications co-ordinator with Barrie police, says they were contacted about the 26-year-old’s disappearance on June 12.
“It would appear that after that text message was received on June 10, Autumn literally vanished into thin air. We don’t know where she is at this point, and that concerns us because this is something, from what we understand, is not in character for her to do,” Leon says.
Police are in the process of following up with all of those who know Shaganash to try and get more information about what might have happened to her.
“It’s been a lot of crying, but at this point, we’re a little bit numb from all (of this and) we can’t really feel much right now. All we could think about is getting Autumn home with us and just trying to cope (as) the family,” cousin Kimberly Moore says.
Chris Williams, a private investigator providing support to the family, says one early theory is that Shaganash could be a victim of human trafficking.
When asked if they were looking into the possibility of human trafficking, Leon says police are not ruling anything out at this stage.
“Every aspect of this case is being closely examined, and regrettably, human trafficking is an element that does concern us. We know how dangerous that is and how difficult it is for victims to escape the confines of a controlling individual,” he says.
“We are looking into every aspect of it. Certainly, when people disappear under circumstances like that, anything is possible,” he says.
Leon says given the time that has passed, it’s possible Shaganash is not even in the community anymore and is asking that people keep an eye out and call their local police station.
Police say Shaganash was last seen wearing a black hoodie, shorts, slip-on Puma sandals and a black/tan purse.
Anyone with information about her disappearance is asked to call 911 or Barrie Police.
– with files from Global News’ Shallima Maharaj
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