Syria - Jacqueline Vienneau, 33, Hama, 31 March 2007 - Canadian
- Thread starter jodierenee
- Start date
here's some older articles
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/...c-vienneau.html
Vancouver woman missing in Syria
Last Updated: Friday, May 4, 2007 | 9:35 AM PT
CBC News
A Vancouver woman travelling alone in the Middle East has been missing in Syria for more than a month, says her brother who is co-ordinating a search for her.
Matthew Vienneau told CBC Radio on Friday that his sister Nicole was last seen on March 31 when she left her hotel near Hama for a day trip to a place called the Dead Cities, ancient ruins in northwest Syria.
Nicole Vienneau, 32, is missing in Syria, and was last seen on March 31.
(Vienneau family photo) But hotel staff told him she did not return. He has also been told that Syrian police are searching the area.
Vienneau said his 32-year-old sister is an experienced adventure traveller.
"You have hope that maybe she's just in prison, or at this point, one of our best-case scenarios is that she's been kidnapped, which is a very weird situation to be in, but at least in that case we'd know that she's alive."
Vienneau told The Early Edition that Canadian Foreign Affairs officials have done what they can, but that most of the information on his sister has come from people in Canada and Syria who read about Nicole on the internet and offered to help.
Now, her family is asking anyone with family or friends in Syria to help them trace what may have happened.
"But you hope that, you know, maybe it's just something happened, she's in the mountains and it's remote, or she got unexpectedly delayed somewhere in the desert."
Vienneau said his sister is a careful woman who doesn't take stupid chances.
"It's almost impossible to imagine that something might have happened. And the constant reassurances from the Syrians that nothing like this happens, it's very unusual, and if something had happened, we'd know about it.
"For someone to just disappear is so strange that it gives you hope that it's something so out there, we never would have thought of it, but she's OK and just waiting for us to come find her."
****************************
http://www.thestar.com/article/211149
Son of the late David Vienneau sets up blog to find sibling, missing for weeks in Mideast
May 07, 2007 04:30 AM
John Goddard
staff reporter
A Toronto man doggedly working the Internet has put together the route his sister took up to the day she mysteriously disappeared in Syria.
Matthew Vienneau, an information technology consultant, created a personal interactive website, or blog, to learn from other travellers where his sister Nicole was, what she was wearing and where she was going.
"We're still hoping to find people who have relatives among the Bedouin tribespeople or relatives in the Syrian travel industry," Vienneau, 34, said yesterday."Or, if we find out she's been kidnapped, that would be useful, too."
Nicole Vienneau, 32, is the daughter of David Vienneau, who joined the Star as a reporter in 1975, and who was Ottawa bureau chief when he left the paper for Global Television in 1998. He died of cancer three years ago at age 53.
Nicole is a veteran traveller. She moved to Vancouver from Toronto at 18 to attend university and has since travelled extensively.
Her last known whereabouts was the budget Cairo Hotel in Hama, a city north of Damascus.
On March 31, she apparently set out on a day trip to a series of historic sites some 60 kilometres away, on a route that would have involved some hitch-hiking, her brother said.
In February, Matthew Vienneau joined his sister in Egypt and they travelled together for a month as far as Petra, Jordan. Her plans were to proceed to Syria and Turkey.
The two kept in touch and when Matthew didn't hear from her for a few days, he contacted the Canadian embassy in Damascus. Last week, having made no progress on her whereabouts, he set up the blog.
"First, we had to figure out what country she was in," he said speaking for a concerned group of friends.
They learned how to trace her last email, discovering where she had crossed into Syria from Lebanon. The Turkish government confirmed to Canadian officials that she had not entered Turkey.
Travellers who saw the blog began checking hotels along Nicole's proposed route. One reported her registered at the Cairo Hotel, where the receptionist later told Matthew his sister had left her luggage.Matthew got an inventory of the clothing his sister left behind, compared it to his travel photos, and deduced what she must have been wearing that day.
A British traveller who reported where Nicole planned to go that day did the same trip two weeks later and described every step of the route.
"This woman said, `Every person I met invited me back to their place for tea,'" Matthew said. "They love to see foreigners. They're very friendly.'"
Matthew posted the route along with photos of Nicole in the missing outfit. A friend created an electronic poster with the information.
Yesterday, a Canadian traveller wrote to say he had made copies of the poster at an Internet café in Hama and was handing them out at the bus station.
"The weather was good and she was dressed appropriately," Matthew said when asked what might have happened. He said if there had been a road accident or Nicole was arrested, the family would have been informed."All the guide books say the Syrians are friendly. It could be a random act of violence, a woman wandering by herself down the road and someone decides to take advantage. I hope that's not the case.
Anybody interested can log on to: vienneau.livejournal.com or contact Matthew Vienneau at mattv99@hotmail.com.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/...c-vienneau.html
Vancouver woman missing in Syria
Last Updated: Friday, May 4, 2007 | 9:35 AM PT
CBC News
A Vancouver woman travelling alone in the Middle East has been missing in Syria for more than a month, says her brother who is co-ordinating a search for her.
Matthew Vienneau told CBC Radio on Friday that his sister Nicole was last seen on March 31 when she left her hotel near Hama for a day trip to a place called the Dead Cities, ancient ruins in northwest Syria.
Nicole Vienneau, 32, is missing in Syria, and was last seen on March 31.
(Vienneau family photo) But hotel staff told him she did not return. He has also been told that Syrian police are searching the area.
Vienneau said his 32-year-old sister is an experienced adventure traveller.
"You have hope that maybe she's just in prison, or at this point, one of our best-case scenarios is that she's been kidnapped, which is a very weird situation to be in, but at least in that case we'd know that she's alive."
Vienneau told The Early Edition that Canadian Foreign Affairs officials have done what they can, but that most of the information on his sister has come from people in Canada and Syria who read about Nicole on the internet and offered to help.
Now, her family is asking anyone with family or friends in Syria to help them trace what may have happened.
"But you hope that, you know, maybe it's just something happened, she's in the mountains and it's remote, or she got unexpectedly delayed somewhere in the desert."
Vienneau said his sister is a careful woman who doesn't take stupid chances.
"It's almost impossible to imagine that something might have happened. And the constant reassurances from the Syrians that nothing like this happens, it's very unusual, and if something had happened, we'd know about it.
"For someone to just disappear is so strange that it gives you hope that it's something so out there, we never would have thought of it, but she's OK and just waiting for us to come find her."
****************************
http://www.thestar.com/article/211149
Son of the late David Vienneau sets up blog to find sibling, missing for weeks in Mideast
May 07, 2007 04:30 AM
John Goddard
staff reporter
A Toronto man doggedly working the Internet has put together the route his sister took up to the day she mysteriously disappeared in Syria.
Matthew Vienneau, an information technology consultant, created a personal interactive website, or blog, to learn from other travellers where his sister Nicole was, what she was wearing and where she was going.
"We're still hoping to find people who have relatives among the Bedouin tribespeople or relatives in the Syrian travel industry," Vienneau, 34, said yesterday."Or, if we find out she's been kidnapped, that would be useful, too."
Nicole Vienneau, 32, is the daughter of David Vienneau, who joined the Star as a reporter in 1975, and who was Ottawa bureau chief when he left the paper for Global Television in 1998. He died of cancer three years ago at age 53.
Nicole is a veteran traveller. She moved to Vancouver from Toronto at 18 to attend university and has since travelled extensively.
Her last known whereabouts was the budget Cairo Hotel in Hama, a city north of Damascus.
On March 31, she apparently set out on a day trip to a series of historic sites some 60 kilometres away, on a route that would have involved some hitch-hiking, her brother said.
In February, Matthew Vienneau joined his sister in Egypt and they travelled together for a month as far as Petra, Jordan. Her plans were to proceed to Syria and Turkey.
The two kept in touch and when Matthew didn't hear from her for a few days, he contacted the Canadian embassy in Damascus. Last week, having made no progress on her whereabouts, he set up the blog.
"First, we had to figure out what country she was in," he said speaking for a concerned group of friends.
They learned how to trace her last email, discovering where she had crossed into Syria from Lebanon. The Turkish government confirmed to Canadian officials that she had not entered Turkey.
Travellers who saw the blog began checking hotels along Nicole's proposed route. One reported her registered at the Cairo Hotel, where the receptionist later told Matthew his sister had left her luggage.Matthew got an inventory of the clothing his sister left behind, compared it to his travel photos, and deduced what she must have been wearing that day.
A British traveller who reported where Nicole planned to go that day did the same trip two weeks later and described every step of the route.
"This woman said, `Every person I met invited me back to their place for tea,'" Matthew said. "They love to see foreigners. They're very friendly.'"
Matthew posted the route along with photos of Nicole in the missing outfit. A friend created an electronic poster with the information.
Yesterday, a Canadian traveller wrote to say he had made copies of the poster at an Internet café in Hama and was handing them out at the bus station.
"The weather was good and she was dressed appropriately," Matthew said when asked what might have happened. He said if there had been a road accident or Nicole was arrested, the family would have been informed."All the guide books say the Syrians are friendly. It could be a random act of violence, a woman wandering by herself down the road and someone decides to take advantage. I hope that's not the case.
Anybody interested can log on to: vienneau.livejournal.com or contact Matthew Vienneau at mattv99@hotmail.com.
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sto...ff8b8bd&k=22845
Vancouver woman missing in Middle East
CanWest, The Province
Published: Wednesday, May 02, 2007
The Department of Foreign Affairs is investigating the case of a missing Canadian woman who was travelling in the Middle East and vanished five weeks ago.
Nicole Vienneau, 32, of Vancouver was last heard from on March 29, when she was just outside of Damascus, her mother, Kathryn Murray, said from Toronto.
Murray said her daughter had embarked on her solo trip, which had taken her to Africa, at the beginning of November.
****"She's a seasoned traveller and she's a seasoned solo traveller," said Murray of Vienneau, an adventurous, active woman who was on her fourth major world trip and was in regular e-mail and phone contact with family and friends.
Murray said family members are working with Foreign Affairs and the RCMP.
She said they've been assured consulate officials overseas are "fully engaged" in the investigation.
Murray said the only thing they know for certain is that Vienneau did not enter Turkey, which was her destination after Syria.
A blog entry posted by her brother asks other backpackers for help in finding her.
A budget traveller, Vienneau typically stayed in inexpensive hotels and hostels.
Murray said Foreign Affairs has been in contact with the family on a daily basis.
"Part of the frustration they experience is the number of false alarms that happen when the traveller is inconsiderate and has not contacted anyone for a number of weeks and then turns up," she said.
"What happens is when you have a legitimate one, it's hard to get the embassies overseas interested in the beginning."
Vienneau, who has a fine-arts and business degree and worked at a number of jobs, was described by Murray as an active woman who played soccer and sang in a choir.
- CanWest News Service
********************
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/213174
Brother's quest filled with hope and dread
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Syrian ambassador authorizes free visas for sibling, boyfriend to fly to Damascus to try to find missing Canadian woman
May 12, 2007 04:30 AM
Oakland Ross
Middle East Bureau
AMMAN, JordanIf the world according to Nicole Vienneau had unfolded as it should, the 32-year-old global traveller would be arriving back in Canada on Monday, to be met by her mother at the airport in Toronto.
She would be tired but smiling, happy to be home but also probably a little sad to have finally come to the end of a long, mostly solo Middle Eastern trek.
But that emotional reunion is not what will be happening.
Instead, her older brother Matthew Vienneau, a 34-year-old self-employed information-technology consultant, expects to land in Damascus, Syria on the very day she was supposed to come home.
There, he is to be met by officials from the Canadian embassy before launching a search for an adventurous and self-reliant woman who has been missing for nearly six weeks.
The next day, accompanied by Nicole's boyfriend, Gary Schweitzer of Vancouver, Vienneau will head for Hama, roughly 100 kilometres north of Damascus, where his sister was last seen before vanishing on March 31 or April 1.
Like much else about this worrisome tale, the date of her disappearance is uncertain.
"It's actually very frustrating," Vienneau said yesterday from Toronto.
He was referring to his attempts to pin down the exact date when Nicole fell out of contact with the world around her. "Right now, it's hazy."
The daughter of David Vienneau, a former Toronto Star reporter and Ottawa bureau chief who died of cancer three years ago, Nicole makes her home in Vancouver. She is an experienced backpacker who has taken many marathon journeys through some of the remotest regions in the world.
She was backpacking through Syria, intending to carry on northward to Turkey, when her track suddenly came to a mysterious end. According to her brother, she's made no bank transactions since the end of March.
Since his sister's disappearance first garnered public attention a week ago, Vienneau has continued to ride a psychological roller-coaster of hope and dread. Just the other day, he learned that the corpses of two so far unidentified women have turned up in Syria, and he immediately thought the worst.
But he is now convinced that neither body could be Nicole's. One was discovered on March 29, which is too early, while the other appears to be that of a woman who was out for a jog and was hit by a car on April 4.
"I assume we'll find out in a couple of days," he said yesterday. Since late April, Vienneau has been providing daily updates on a blog devoted to his sister's disappearance, and many Middle Eastern travellers and others have been pitching in to help in his efforts to find out what happened to Nicole.
"It's amazing what people have done," he said. "It's been really wonderful."
A Canadian teacher, who is working in the part of Syria where Nicole disappeared, spent a couple of days journeying in the countryside around Hama, questioning local people. Arabic speakers in different parts of the world have helped by translating documents or newspaper articles that have appeared in the Syrian press.
"It was someone on the Internet who said she'd been seen at this hotel," said Vienneau. He meant the Cairo Hotel in Hama, where his sister had been staying and where Canadian officials in Damascus later retrieved her belongings. The hotel waited three days before reporting her missing, he said.
Unfortunately, that report went unheeded, and little or nothing was done at the time.
It was not until Nicole had been out of contact for two weeks her agreed-upon limit of silence that family in Canada got well and truly worried, but still they decided not to over-react.
"We gave it an extra week," said Vienneau. "Foolishly, in hindsight."
Since then, he has been in almost daily contact with the Canadian embassy in Damascus. This week, he met with the Syrian ambassador in Ottawa, who authorized free visas for Vienneau and Schweitzer.
"She wanted to get out and enjoy the world," said Vienneau, who in the past has joined his sister on parts of the long and rugged treks that she loved.
If there is time, Vienneau will update his blog from Internet cafes along the way. Readers can follow his progress at vienneau.livejournal.com.
Vancouver woman missing in Middle East
CanWest, The Province
Published: Wednesday, May 02, 2007
The Department of Foreign Affairs is investigating the case of a missing Canadian woman who was travelling in the Middle East and vanished five weeks ago.
Nicole Vienneau, 32, of Vancouver was last heard from on March 29, when she was just outside of Damascus, her mother, Kathryn Murray, said from Toronto.
Murray said her daughter had embarked on her solo trip, which had taken her to Africa, at the beginning of November.
****"She's a seasoned traveller and she's a seasoned solo traveller," said Murray of Vienneau, an adventurous, active woman who was on her fourth major world trip and was in regular e-mail and phone contact with family and friends.
Murray said family members are working with Foreign Affairs and the RCMP.
She said they've been assured consulate officials overseas are "fully engaged" in the investigation.
Murray said the only thing they know for certain is that Vienneau did not enter Turkey, which was her destination after Syria.
A blog entry posted by her brother asks other backpackers for help in finding her.
A budget traveller, Vienneau typically stayed in inexpensive hotels and hostels.
Murray said Foreign Affairs has been in contact with the family on a daily basis.
"Part of the frustration they experience is the number of false alarms that happen when the traveller is inconsiderate and has not contacted anyone for a number of weeks and then turns up," she said.
"What happens is when you have a legitimate one, it's hard to get the embassies overseas interested in the beginning."
Vienneau, who has a fine-arts and business degree and worked at a number of jobs, was described by Murray as an active woman who played soccer and sang in a choir.
- CanWest News Service
********************
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/213174
Brother's quest filled with hope and dread
Email story
Choose text size
Report typo or correction
Email the author
License this article
Tag and save
Syrian ambassador authorizes free visas for sibling, boyfriend to fly to Damascus to try to find missing Canadian woman
May 12, 2007 04:30 AM
Oakland Ross
Middle East Bureau
AMMAN, JordanIf the world according to Nicole Vienneau had unfolded as it should, the 32-year-old global traveller would be arriving back in Canada on Monday, to be met by her mother at the airport in Toronto.
She would be tired but smiling, happy to be home but also probably a little sad to have finally come to the end of a long, mostly solo Middle Eastern trek.
But that emotional reunion is not what will be happening.
Instead, her older brother Matthew Vienneau, a 34-year-old self-employed information-technology consultant, expects to land in Damascus, Syria on the very day she was supposed to come home.
There, he is to be met by officials from the Canadian embassy before launching a search for an adventurous and self-reliant woman who has been missing for nearly six weeks.
The next day, accompanied by Nicole's boyfriend, Gary Schweitzer of Vancouver, Vienneau will head for Hama, roughly 100 kilometres north of Damascus, where his sister was last seen before vanishing on March 31 or April 1.
Like much else about this worrisome tale, the date of her disappearance is uncertain.
"It's actually very frustrating," Vienneau said yesterday from Toronto.
He was referring to his attempts to pin down the exact date when Nicole fell out of contact with the world around her. "Right now, it's hazy."
The daughter of David Vienneau, a former Toronto Star reporter and Ottawa bureau chief who died of cancer three years ago, Nicole makes her home in Vancouver. She is an experienced backpacker who has taken many marathon journeys through some of the remotest regions in the world.
She was backpacking through Syria, intending to carry on northward to Turkey, when her track suddenly came to a mysterious end. According to her brother, she's made no bank transactions since the end of March.
Since his sister's disappearance first garnered public attention a week ago, Vienneau has continued to ride a psychological roller-coaster of hope and dread. Just the other day, he learned that the corpses of two so far unidentified women have turned up in Syria, and he immediately thought the worst.
But he is now convinced that neither body could be Nicole's. One was discovered on March 29, which is too early, while the other appears to be that of a woman who was out for a jog and was hit by a car on April 4.
"I assume we'll find out in a couple of days," he said yesterday. Since late April, Vienneau has been providing daily updates on a blog devoted to his sister's disappearance, and many Middle Eastern travellers and others have been pitching in to help in his efforts to find out what happened to Nicole.
"It's amazing what people have done," he said. "It's been really wonderful."
A Canadian teacher, who is working in the part of Syria where Nicole disappeared, spent a couple of days journeying in the countryside around Hama, questioning local people. Arabic speakers in different parts of the world have helped by translating documents or newspaper articles that have appeared in the Syrian press.
"It was someone on the Internet who said she'd been seen at this hotel," said Vienneau. He meant the Cairo Hotel in Hama, where his sister had been staying and where Canadian officials in Damascus later retrieved her belongings. The hotel waited three days before reporting her missing, he said.
Unfortunately, that report went unheeded, and little or nothing was done at the time.
It was not until Nicole had been out of contact for two weeks her agreed-upon limit of silence that family in Canada got well and truly worried, but still they decided not to over-react.
"We gave it an extra week," said Vienneau. "Foolishly, in hindsight."
Since then, he has been in almost daily contact with the Canadian embassy in Damascus. This week, he met with the Syrian ambassador in Ottawa, who authorized free visas for Vienneau and Schweitzer.
"She wanted to get out and enjoy the world," said Vienneau, who in the past has joined his sister on parts of the long and rugged treks that she loved.
If there is time, Vienneau will update his blog from Internet cafes along the way. Readers can follow his progress at vienneau.livejournal.com.
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/CP_stories.php?id=47322
Canadian womans family offers reward to find daughter missing in Syria
By LORRAYNE ANTHONY
Monday, June 4, 2007
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Printer friendly page
TORONTO (CP) - More than two months after a Vancouver woman went missing in the Middle East, her family is offering a 1-million Syrian pound reward for any information that may lead to finding her.
While the money - about $25,000 Cdn - isnt a fortune in Syria, it may lead to some information on Nicole Vienneaus whereabouts.
"Essentially, enough money so that if someone has to snitch on their neighbour, they can get out of the country," said Nicoles brother, Matthew Vienneau, in Toronto.
Her mother, Kathryn Murray, is hopeful, and said the reward may be the way to get information that has so far eluded officials in Syria.
"At this point we are looking for leads and anything that helps us get a lead, you know, whether somebody has seen her backpack, or her camera, or sunglasses, or hat, or knows somebody that knows something," said Murray. "Any way we can get at it is important now."
Matthew Vienneau and his girlfriend met up with Nicole, 29, in Cairo in February and the three travelled through Egypt for three weeks. The couple returned to their home in Toronto while Nicole continued her Middle East trek.
Nicole, a world traveller, has kept in touch with family and friends though e-mails every two weeks during her past treks. In fact, it was a rule her parents imposed when she went on her first adventure shortly after high school.
On her jaunt through Jakarta - before the Internet was so widely available - Nicole failed to call her mom after a two-week period, so Murray called the embassy.
Turns out she was on an island where there were no telephones.
"We told her Well you knew what the rule was. You will now be stopped at every border check for the rest of your holiday because your passport is on alert. . . the rest of her trip was h**l," Murray said.
After that incident, Murray said she never missed the two-week rule even if she only had two seconds to say: "Im alive. I have to go."
But e-mail made keeping contact with her daughter a lot easier.
So when an Easter greeting e-mail went unanswered, Murray was concerned. The minute she didnt make the two-week check-in, her mother called the embassy.
Since then, Nicoles travelling gear and journal were found at the hotel in Syria where she was staying.
Vienneau travelled to Syria with Nicoles longtime partner, Gary Schweitzer, to see what information they could find.
In Syria, the two men contacted officials in Damascus and spoke with foreign affairs in Ottawa and with the RCMP.
After weeks of asking questions and trying to retrace Nicoles steps, they learned she left a hotel north of Damascus on March 31 to embark on a day trip to examine ruins about 60 kilometres away.
Both Vienneau and Schweitzer returned to Canada without a clear picture of why she never came back from the day trip.
Vienneau said the family just wants to know what has happened to her.
"We honestly hope shes alive and available and can be found and shell be okay," he said. "The reality of 65 days make it increasingly unlikely . . . On the other hand, I mean, we dont have a body yet."
In addition to the reward posters, Vienneau has a blog with daily entries to update the public on Nicoles case. But other than well wishes from strangers, the blog has yielded nothing to locate his sister.
He is contemplating making her journal entries available online, hoping to tweak memories of any travellers who may have seen her.
Not satisfied to leave it in cyberspace, Nicoles mother is planning to travel to Damascus to make a plea to the Syrian people.
"We want to keep it in the forefront of peoples minds," said said.
"Weve talked with the embassy and they think its a good idea if the parents show up," she said.
Murray has heard that parents are held in high esteem in the Middle East. Shes hoping her visit will carry more weight with the Syrian people.
"They have found absolutely nothing, which suggests that there is a very good chance she still is alive," she said. "If she was not alive then they would have possibly recovered a body.
"We will keep searching till we find her."
More articles and pics here
http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/index.php?showtopic=21470
http://z14.invisionfree.com/PorchlightEast...topic=360&st=0&
http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightCana...topic=2026&st=0
Canadian womans family offers reward to find daughter missing in Syria
By LORRAYNE ANTHONY
Monday, June 4, 2007
Email this article
Printer friendly page
TORONTO (CP) - More than two months after a Vancouver woman went missing in the Middle East, her family is offering a 1-million Syrian pound reward for any information that may lead to finding her.
While the money - about $25,000 Cdn - isnt a fortune in Syria, it may lead to some information on Nicole Vienneaus whereabouts.
"Essentially, enough money so that if someone has to snitch on their neighbour, they can get out of the country," said Nicoles brother, Matthew Vienneau, in Toronto.
Her mother, Kathryn Murray, is hopeful, and said the reward may be the way to get information that has so far eluded officials in Syria.
"At this point we are looking for leads and anything that helps us get a lead, you know, whether somebody has seen her backpack, or her camera, or sunglasses, or hat, or knows somebody that knows something," said Murray. "Any way we can get at it is important now."
Matthew Vienneau and his girlfriend met up with Nicole, 29, in Cairo in February and the three travelled through Egypt for three weeks. The couple returned to their home in Toronto while Nicole continued her Middle East trek.
Nicole, a world traveller, has kept in touch with family and friends though e-mails every two weeks during her past treks. In fact, it was a rule her parents imposed when she went on her first adventure shortly after high school.
On her jaunt through Jakarta - before the Internet was so widely available - Nicole failed to call her mom after a two-week period, so Murray called the embassy.
Turns out she was on an island where there were no telephones.
"We told her Well you knew what the rule was. You will now be stopped at every border check for the rest of your holiday because your passport is on alert. . . the rest of her trip was h**l," Murray said.
After that incident, Murray said she never missed the two-week rule even if she only had two seconds to say: "Im alive. I have to go."
But e-mail made keeping contact with her daughter a lot easier.
So when an Easter greeting e-mail went unanswered, Murray was concerned. The minute she didnt make the two-week check-in, her mother called the embassy.
Since then, Nicoles travelling gear and journal were found at the hotel in Syria where she was staying.
Vienneau travelled to Syria with Nicoles longtime partner, Gary Schweitzer, to see what information they could find.
In Syria, the two men contacted officials in Damascus and spoke with foreign affairs in Ottawa and with the RCMP.
After weeks of asking questions and trying to retrace Nicoles steps, they learned she left a hotel north of Damascus on March 31 to embark on a day trip to examine ruins about 60 kilometres away.
Both Vienneau and Schweitzer returned to Canada without a clear picture of why she never came back from the day trip.
Vienneau said the family just wants to know what has happened to her.
"We honestly hope shes alive and available and can be found and shell be okay," he said. "The reality of 65 days make it increasingly unlikely . . . On the other hand, I mean, we dont have a body yet."
In addition to the reward posters, Vienneau has a blog with daily entries to update the public on Nicoles case. But other than well wishes from strangers, the blog has yielded nothing to locate his sister.
He is contemplating making her journal entries available online, hoping to tweak memories of any travellers who may have seen her.
Not satisfied to leave it in cyberspace, Nicoles mother is planning to travel to Damascus to make a plea to the Syrian people.
"We want to keep it in the forefront of peoples minds," said said.
"Weve talked with the embassy and they think its a good idea if the parents show up," she said.
Murray has heard that parents are held in high esteem in the Middle East. Shes hoping her visit will carry more weight with the Syrian people.
"They have found absolutely nothing, which suggests that there is a very good chance she still is alive," she said. "If she was not alive then they would have possibly recovered a body.
"We will keep searching till we find her."
More articles and pics here
http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/index.php?showtopic=21470
http://z14.invisionfree.com/PorchlightEast...topic=360&st=0&
http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightCana...topic=2026&st=0
arielilane
Justice for Liz Barraza
She is Canadian.
What happened to Nicole?
What happened to Nicole?
arielilane
Justice for Liz Barraza
Where is Nicole Vienneau?
arielilane
Justice for Liz Barraza
Where is Nicole Vienneau?
arielilane
Justice for Liz Barraza
A reward of up to 2,000,000 SYP (40,000 USD) is being offered for reliable new information that leads to the return or location of Jacqueline Nicole Vienneau, or to the identity of any person involved in her disappearance.
The final decision as to the amount of the reward paid will be at the sole discretion of the Reward Review Committee.
The reward offer is valid until November 30, 2008 or until Jacqueline Nicole is located, whichever comes first.
http://www.findnicolevienneau.com/reward.shtml
The final decision as to the amount of the reward paid will be at the sole discretion of the Reward Review Committee.
The reward offer is valid until November 30, 2008 or until Jacqueline Nicole is located, whichever comes first.
http://www.findnicolevienneau.com/reward.shtml
belimom
Speak the truth even if your voice shakes~M.Kuhn
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I do hope they find her... Having lived in the Middle East, I can say that most folks are extremely friendly - very family-oriented. However, we knew that it was not safe to travel to remote areas without an escort. But, we did it anyway, just once - sneaking past the guards at the checkpoint into the desert so we could "venture" on our own - and soon found ourselves in the middle of a more fundamentalist-type of unofficial non-government civilian military group exercise/meeting (don't know how else to describe it!) - lots of guns. Not a woman in sight. We got alot of attention in our late-model SUV - so much so that I had to hide in the floorboard while my husband tried to get us out of there and back on the main roads and on the other side of the checkpoint. I'm not saying this is what she ran into, but there are "pockets" of folks over there (just as anywhere) that could bring harm to someone, especially a woman travelling alone.
I truly hope that Nicole shows up.
I truly hope that Nicole shows up.
arielilane
Justice for Liz Barraza
Thank you for sharing your story, belimom. I think Nicole's brother would love to hear from you! If you choose to share your thoughts with him, here is the link for his email address. ariel:blowkiss:
http://vienneau.livejournal.com/39588.html
arielilane
Justice for Liz Barraza
It's time to return home, Nicole. You are missed.
arielilane
Justice for Liz Barraza
Keeping the light on.
arielilane
Justice for Liz Barraza
Keeping the light on.Keeping the porchlight on for Jacqueline Nicole to come home.
http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/index.php?showtopic=21470
http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/index.php?showtopic=21470
doubletrouble
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I just happened to stumble across Nicole's brothers site from websleuths. As a woman, a sister and a former Canadian, this story has truly touched my heart. What stood out to me is that two to three times in tracking her movements, it was listed that she hitch hiked. Is that safe? Would that be standard for a foreign woman travelling alone in another country? Please dont get me wrong. Im not stating she did anything wrong. Im just asking if this may have been a hinkey momment.
Then again, perhaps hitch hiking is something routine there. I know that here in the USA or in Canada, a single woman would unlikely be hitching a ride from a stranger.
Anyone know? Has this been discussed or addressed?
Then again, perhaps hitch hiking is something routine there. I know that here in the USA or in Canada, a single woman would unlikely be hitching a ride from a stranger.
Anyone know? Has this been discussed or addressed?
arielilane
Justice for Liz Barraza
Thinking of Nicole.
doubletrouble
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Any new updates at all?
arielilane
Justice for Liz Barraza
I haven't heard any recent news. Keeping the faith.
doubletrouble
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I too am keeping the faith, however if she was infact still alive, wouldnt there have been a contact or ransom note by this time? This too is all so sad, breaks my heart.