The brother of a Canadian woman who vanished last March in Syria says a recent fact-finding mission to the country has helped him rule out some scenarios.

"We were able to find out a lot of things about what didn't happen to her which was good to know," Matthew Vienneau told Canada AM Thursday.

Vienneau last saw his sister Jacqueline Nicole Vienneau, 32, in mid-March when the siblings parted ways in Jordan after spending a month travelling together in Egypt.

"The ability to go there and see for myself, find out that it's not barren desert... so it's not walking off cliffs or there's no one around," said Vienneau.

"To see that there's crowds all along the route to the bus station, to know that she couldn't have just disappeared without someone noticing; to know that the people there -- the governor, the police --they're all really interested, that was really important to get that face-to-face interaction," said Vienneau.

Vienneau said while both the Canadian embassy and local officials eagerly helped during his visit there were still no solid answers.

"It's so strange, she just disappeared," he said. "We're still hoping, ironically, for a kidnapping but it's looking less and less likely."

Vienneau was able to obtain some extra details about his sister's travels from her journal that was found in her backpack at the hotel.

He said her last entry was the day before she disappeared.

"The last word in her journal was 'content' because she was so happy there she was just having a great time," said Vienneau.

"Unfortunately, she doesn't say 'this is what I'm going to do tomorrow' but the hotel owners say that she talked to them and asked about certain spots so we're presuming that's where she went."

Vienneau sent her last email on March 29, two days before she left her budget hotel in the Syrian town of Hama for a day-trip to examine ruins about 60 kilometres away.

Vienneau is also continuing the search using his online journal, YouTube, and Facebook in an attempt to mobilize fellow travellers in the Middle East who may have information.

Vienneau invites anyone to check for updates on his blog at http://vienneau.livejournal.com or to send him an email at mattv99@hotmail.com

Jacqueline Nicole Vienneau is described as:

  • Height: 5' 6"
  • Weight: approx 130 lb
  • Brown hair and brown eyes
  • Age: 32 (looks younger)