Forensic artist enlisted to create image of ‘green shirt guy,’ person of interest in Emma Fillipoff case

Today marks 12 years since the mysterious disappearance of Emma Fillipoff.

The Victoria Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit continues to investigate, following up on leads and tips from the public, but it is still unknown what happened to the young woman over a decade ago.

On the evening of Nov. 28, 2012, the VicPD was contacted about a woman acting oddly in front of the Empress Hotel. Officers located Emma and "spoke with her at length."

“After ensuring her well-being, Emma continued on her way. Emma was reported missing a few hours later. She has not been heard from or seen since,” said police.

A website was created to bring awareness to the case and hopefully see that she is found one day.

According to the website, the night Emma was last seen near the Empress, her red Mazda MPV 1993 van was found in the Chateau Victoria parking lot with almost all her belongings in it, including her passport, library card, digital camera, clothes, a pillow, assorted ornaments, a laptop, and recently-borrowed library books.

One lead in the case included the sighting of “Green Shirt Guy,” a person of interest in the disappearance.

Advocates and Emma Fillipoff's family enlisted the expertise of a forensic artist and worked to create an age-progressed composite of the individual based on decade-old CCTV footage. The hope is that the photo will generate new leads.

Last year, detectives were able to make a request through the RCMP to have an age-progressed sketch done of Emma, but noted that these drawings are difficult because there are many unknown factors.

“For Emma specifically, we didn’t know if she may be unhoused, or if she is living a happy and healthy lifestyle in another location,” explained the VicPD.

“The artist spoke with Emma’s mother, and we supplied him with a number of different photos for reference. Emma had a youthful appearance and she has a very youthful air about her,” police said.

If you have any info on Emma‘s whereabouts, or the identity of the "Green Shirt Guy" please call 250-995-7654 ext. 1.

“All it could take is one person to help bring Emma home,” the VicPD said.