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Esther is safe and sound.
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Toronto Police announced Thursday afternoon that the 14-year-old girl who vanished May 15 has been located.
The Toronto Sun has learned the Jewish teen was found at a residence in Rexdale in the northwest corner of the city. It’s believe Esther was found with an adult male.
“We found her at a house with some guy in Rexdale,” a police source said. “He has a house so we can assume that he’s an adult.”
Timeline of missing girl Esther. Photo by Toronto Sun graphicSituation still ‘very fluid’
The cop added: “Still, the situation is very fluid and we haven’t had an opportunity to talk to him.”
Police made the announcement around 2 p.m. on Thursday. Cops provided more information at a press conference in Earl Bales Park, one of the last places Esther was seen.
Esther was last seen in the area of Bathurst St. and Hotspur Rd., south of Hwy. 401, in North York just after midnight on May 15.
Earlier Thursday, the Toronto Sun reported that detectives believed the teen was still alive.
Initially, cops feared that the girl, known by her family as Esti, had fallen into the clutches of sex traffickers. Eventually, they moved on with “everything on the table.”
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A poster circulated to help locate missing girl Esther is seen in Toronto. HANDOUTDisappearance triggered antisemitic outrages
The autistic teen’s disappearance also triggered another round of antisemitic outrages after posters of the missing girl were torn down from locations across the city.
Spokesperson for Esther’s family, Maureen Leshem, said the family is feeling “immense relief” that she has been found. They are grateful for the community’s help
“Thousands of people came out to help from all walks of life. Not just from our community but from the entire community. People as far as Hamilton, we had old people, young people, children, wherever they could poster, wherever they could spread the word, everyone was willing to do what they needed to do regardless of whether they knew Esther or not,” she said.
Volunteers put up posters and helped search for the girl. And a $25,000 reward had been offered.
Now, the question remains: What next?
Investigators looking for any evidence of criminality
Supt. Don Belanger told reporters told reporters that while the probe has its happy ending, the police investigation is not at the finish line.
Detectives will need to determine who resides in the Rexdale home and “what are they all about,” Belanger said.
Investigators are now looking into “whether or not there is any evidence of criminality” connected to the disappearance.
“This is really the earliest stage of this. The next phase of the investigation is just starting,” Belanger said.
Cops were tight-lipped about what led them to the home where they discovered Esther.
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