Efforts to solve Elnaz Hajtamiri disappearance 'unprecedented,' detective says

Accused killer hires Bernardo's former lawyer Accused killer and ex-boyfriend of Elnaz Hajtamiri hires a lawyer who once represented Canadian serial killer Paul Bernardo.

Friday marks the second anniversary since Elnaz Hajtamiri disappeared, and police continue to search for answers to what happened to the woman from Richmond Hill, Ont. who is now presumed dead.

"The lengths for which the OPP and, our policing partners, and the public have contributed in our efforts to try and locate Elnaz has been unprecedented, in my opinion," said OPP Det. Insp. John Power.

Investigators say on the night of January 12, 2022, three men posing as cops and claiming to have a warrant for her arrest dragged Hajtamiri from the Wasaga Beach home where she had been allegedly hiding with family. They say she was forcibly put into a stolen white Lexus SUV.

No one has seen or heard from her since.

Hajtamiri's former boyfriend, Mohamad Lilo, a 36-year-old man from Quebec, has since been charged with first-degree murder.

Investigators believe Lilo, whom police say owns a shipping container business, is the common thread between a December 2021 frying pan attack on Hajtamiri in a parking garage in Richmond Hill and her disappearance weeks later.

He has been in custody since his arrest in July 2022.

Police have charged or identified 10 others concerning the case, including Adams Ankamah and Krystal Lawrence of Brampton. Both remain out on bail along with Akash Rana and Harshpreet Sekhon, charged in connection with the alleged assault and failed abduction in York Region.

Two suspects remain at large, Sukhpreet Singh and Deshawn Davis, a former Toronto rapper known as Thorobred, who has been on the run for nearly a year.

"I would say to him that it's best that he turn himself in and allow us to speak with him in regards to his involvement," Powers stated.

Police have yet to identify one suspect, believed to have been with Davis and Lawrence when they were captured on security video in the Quebec area around the time Hajtamiri went missing.

They are also looking for a person of interest who, according to police, may have been renting a vehicle tied to the case.

The allegations against the accused have not been tested in court.

Police encourage anyone with information on the case to come forward to the authorities or Crime Stoppers as they seek to deliver answers and justice for the family of Elnaz Hajtamiri.