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This is a CBC Broadcasting.

0:33

The

0:34

following episode contains references

0:36

to suicide and other difficult

0:38

subject matter, so please

0:40

take care.

0:49

After four years, do you wanna still

0:51

like misjudging me? Knows.

0:53

You can't because I'm still here. I

0:55

didn't run away.

1:06

Hi. Is this Alma? Speaking.

1:09

Hi. How are you? Thanks for doing this. This

1:11

is Alma Alikovic. a real

1:13

estate agent from Edmonton, Alberta. Alma

1:15

visited Nadia Atwi on December

1:18

sixth two thousand seventeen just

1:21

two days before she went missing. This

1:24

is at the house that she was in when she

1:26

disappeared.

1:27

That's the same house. Yeah. I

1:30

was there on Wednesday evening gonna Hundred

1:32

and she disappeared on Friday,

1:34

so it was shocking.

1:37

I ask Alma if anything in particular

1:39

stood out to her about Nadia

1:42

during her December sixth visit.

1:44

So, I went there in the evening,

1:46

her husband doesn't home. It was just her

1:49

mother-in-law and her

1:50

little guy and herself. But

1:54

when I came to see her, I was really

1:56

surprised how much weight she lost

1:58

And I was like, daddy, you

1:59

look great. How did you do it? Did you

2:02

wanna die? And she just smiled

2:04

and she thanked me. So

2:06

we kinda sat down in the living

2:08

room with her mother-in-law, and we were

2:10

just talking about ordinary things.

2:14

the

2:14

little boy was there. He was over over

2:16

her, you Knows. seen her and she was

2:18

he's sleeping. I brought him

2:20

back to y and can use and stuff

2:22

like that. Right? She was a

2:24

very, very loving mother. Like,

2:27

always, if she was so

2:29

gentle with her boy and

2:31

They sit and drink coffee like this for a

2:34

while, and it all seems ordinary

2:36

to Alma until the very

2:38

end of the evening.

2:41

when I was leaving, like

2:43

she came to to see me after the

2:45

entry door and she hardened me

2:47

and she whispered in my ear, I

2:49

love you, Alma. That's

2:51

what she said. And I said, I love you in

2:54

I love you too in And, you know, we

2:56

hired said goodbye. And I

2:58

never ever in a million years.

3:00

even,

3:00

you know, take or or

3:02

imagine that would be the last

3:04

time I saw her. She

3:07

always did that. where it was new

3:09

thing.

3:11

When she me,

3:12

it was a bit strange to be honest

3:15

with you. That's how I felt.

3:17

she was but in my like,

3:19

she didn't want her mother-in-law

3:21

to hear it. But

3:22

that's the impression I had everything

3:25

happen.

3:28

I'm David Ridgen, and welcome to the

3:30

next call. Episode three,

3:32

in the case of Nadia Adwey.

3:37

They were buying the house, so it was Nadia

3:41

going on with me doing profit. to

3:43

your son.

3:44

Alma says she first met Nadia

3:46

and Ali Fchniech, Nadia's husband,

3:49

in the early summer of two thousand seventeen,

3:51

when they were looking to buy a home on the

3:54

northwest side of Edmonton. Alma

3:57

says she mainly worked with Nadia during

3:59

the purchasing process because

4:01

Ali was still away working

4:03

in Yellowknife in Northern Canada.

4:06

So did you ever talk to Ali in any

4:08

depths or any for any length of time?

4:10

Yeah. He was very nice to me,

4:12

honestly. But I

4:15

like, sense, some tension between

4:17

them during the truck inspection because

4:19

he was a bit

4:21

maybe a little bit I

4:25

cannot

4:25

say rude, but kind

4:27

of distance. and a

4:29

bit angry or whatever. And you know what?

4:31

I didn't pay attention to it. I made a

4:33

couple, you know, a couple of you and,

4:35

you know, But I have to admit that

4:37

she was, like, in the presence of her

4:39

husband or her mother didn't

4:41

know she was very quiet. And

4:44

then after Nadia went missing,

4:47

what happened? Did you interact

4:49

with Ali at all or any of the family

4:51

members at

4:51

home? Yes. Actually, I called earlier, right

4:54

away. I she didn't pick up

4:56

the phone, but she did call me back.

4:58

Right? Like, I couldn't even believe.

5:00

And I honestly

5:00

I told, you know, this is she's missing,

5:02

but she's gonna be found for sure.

5:04

Right? So,

5:05

I mean, he was pleasant with me.

5:07

And he can explain the situation to

5:09

me, like, what happened. the

5:11

night before and how did that happen

5:14

and, you know

5:14

So what were the details of what he said

5:17

happened the night before? You

5:18

remember what he told you?

5:19

He said that yes. Actually, I

5:21

do remember. He said that the night

5:23

before he was on his

5:25

computer and that he was sleeping

5:27

in the bedroom, and he said around

5:30

I

5:31

think he just died for COVID. He said

5:34

she came to human she said, why

5:36

don't you come to bed? So

5:38

he told

5:38

her, you know, I'm almost done. I'll I'll be right

5:40

there. When

5:42

Emma says five o'clock here, she

5:44

means five o'clock in the morning.

5:47

So he said he came to the bedroom, he'd

5:49

fall asleep. he couldn't

5:51

sleep right away. He heard her, you know,

5:53

waking up and getting ready for work.

5:55

Right? And then she left. Okay.

5:58

And did he mention or did you hear anything

5:59

about them having an argument or anything like that

6:02

the night before?

6:02

No. He just said if not, yeah,

6:05

came to him somewhere around, I believe,

6:07

five o'clock. And

6:09

did he take you step by step

6:11

through all those details or did you ask him

6:13

at every point? Okay. And then what happened? Were you

6:15

querying him or did he just start from the

6:17

beginning? And

6:18

Knows. Honestly, like, I I didn't

6:20

pay the taxes, you Knows, and just I was

6:22

kinda shocked. I

6:24

phoned as a friend. So saw,

6:26

and this is the story that he told me. And

6:28

I just said, this is terrible. I hope

6:30

you guys gonna find her. And

6:32

basically, no, I didn't ask questions.

6:35

Okay. So he just volunteered all of those

6:37

details to you.

6:39

That's right. Yeah. Did

6:40

police ever talk to you about

6:43

anything?

6:46

They never did.

6:47

Never did. So you never talked to police about the

6:49

case or what what Ali told you or anything

6:51

like that?

6:52

No. No.

6:54

Knows has ever called me or

6:56

lost any Ridgen. So

6:58

I ask Elmer if she

7:00

can remember anything else about Nadia's demeanor

7:02

the last time she saw her. Because

7:06

the market changed honestly, like,

7:08

usually, you don't tell people or

7:10

you lost so much rage. Right? But I thought

7:12

Minhat went kinda close.

7:14

Right? So I said, Knows

7:16

that you look amazing. Honestly, I was

7:18

shocked. One

7:20

of Nadia's family members told me

7:22

that Nadia had lost around eighty

7:24

pounds, about thirty two kilograms,

7:26

in the six months before she went

7:28

missing. I wonder if this

7:30

change in Nadia's appearance was due

7:32

to external pressure or if it

7:34

is an indication of something else.

7:38

And did the

7:38

mother-in-law ever engage with anybody when

7:40

you were over there or whenever you were with

7:42

Nadia or with

7:43

Hallead?

7:44

No. She would yeah. She didn't speak

7:46

English, so she would be kind of speaking in

7:48

in Arabic and in Arabic with translate.

7:51

She was present the whole time. She

7:53

would be just kind of observing, you

7:55

know, look.

7:56

Ali's mother would be a good candidate

7:58

for me to somehow try to speak to

8:00

since she seems to have been omnipresent,

8:02

at least by Alma's account.

8:05

But she's difficult to track down, but Atwi

8:07

staying in Canada and her hometown in

8:09

Lebanon. The phone number I

8:11

have for her was not in service and

8:13

she doesn't appear to have a permanent

8:15

one. Back

8:17

to Alma's last moments with

8:20

Nadia. She

8:21

did look a bit I

8:23

don't know how to describe

8:25

it in English, but I'm gonna

8:26

describe how I felt.

8:28

Like, I had some impression that she was

8:31

getting some sadness inside.

8:33

Right?

8:35

she needs mine,

8:37

but I I can't understand that

8:39

there is something in in there, like,

8:41

some some kind of I

8:44

can

8:44

know. Maybe

8:46

I was wrong.

8:50

Whether this sadness, says

8:53

she felt coming from Nadia was

8:55

misconstrued or something actually

8:57

there is unknown. And

8:59

while I'm getting a clearer picture of

9:02

Nadia in the final moments before she

9:04

disappeared, I need more.

9:06

I need to speak to her husband, Ali.

9:10

They

9:11

want to put that crime on

9:13

me no matter even I

9:16

have nothing to do with the weather disappearance, but,

9:18

like, they wanted to

9:20

blame me for air disappearance. No

9:23

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10:25

Okay.

10:27

I'm

10:27

gonna try to call Ali on WhatsApp.

10:31

See what happens

10:32

here. I need

10:34

to reach Ali to get his side of

10:36

the story, but his number

10:38

didn't seem to work when I dialed it. Then

10:41

I remember something Sawa told me

10:43

that Ali would sometimes use

10:45

Nadia's phone or SIM card.

10:47

I dial Nadia's phone number, but the

10:50

call doesn't go through, so I

10:52

decide to try the number one more

10:54

time using WhatsApp instead.

11:00

Hello?

11:01

Hi. Is that Ali? Yeah.

11:04

Nice to talk to you. Thanks. For

11:06

nearly a year, my investigation into

11:08

Nadia's disappearance circled

11:10

around the notion of hearing eventually from

11:12

her husband Ali and

11:14

now he wastes no time

11:17

telling me what he says, Nadia's

11:19

family and the public have been accusing

11:21

him of from the beginning. Nadia's

11:24

disappearance. Craig, to

11:25

be honest with you, I tried to help

11:28

first the police with everything I

11:30

have, but

11:31

then, like, at some point, her

11:33

family came and

11:35

the acquisition for me

11:37

murdering my wife and hiding her

11:39

body in You know, I didn't

11:41

accept it.

11:43

So have you ever told them that you did you ever

11:45

say I have nothing to do with Nadia disappearance?

11:48

Have you told them that? Oh,

11:49

yeah. Oh, yeah. I did lots.

11:51

And even, like, I followed nearly

11:54

the police lots. I followed

11:56

nearly Okay. For

11:58

my devices,

11:59

for computer, I

12:02

have a

12:02

dash camera and the car. So

12:04

the police can know that I have

12:06

nothing do or involving

12:08

them. I

12:09

have been a policeman before.

12:11

I work in, like, some

12:13

offices, like, investigation cases.

12:16

Ali says he was a

12:19

police officer on Lebanon. And

12:21

since we're recent Facebook friends,

12:23

I can see photos of him there

12:25

wearing what looks like various military

12:27

looking outfits. As

12:28

I said to the police before, no

12:31

matter what you dig in my history, when

12:33

I know myself, I didn't do

12:35

anything. I'm

12:36

just ahead of you, right, like in this investigation.

12:40

Because you're gonna keep the ingot

12:43

me and I know that, like, and that's the

12:45

right of the police to keep looking

12:47

for evidence from any side they

12:49

think it's suspected. But

12:51

told me myself, I know that I'm ahead of the

12:53

belief because, like, I know

12:54

it's wasn't me. That's in the first

12:57

place. Or I have nothing

12:59

to am holding this

13:01

missing.

13:02

Anyway. Thinking about timeline

13:04

details, I ask Ali to

13:06

walk me through his version of the day

13:08

Nadia went missing. and the night

13:10

before. It's the evening of

13:12

December seventh, and Nadia and

13:14

Ali's mother have just returned

13:16

from a trip to the drugstore.

13:19

and they came back around, like,

13:22

ten at night or something

13:24

during that time around,

13:26

like, six PM. I

13:28

went to my office and my

13:30

house, and I started applying

13:32

for citizenship, Canadian citizenship.

13:35

And it takes a long time to pull up

13:37

those papers. So I

13:39

was, like, around six

13:41

PM, seven PM, filling up those

13:43

documents. She came

13:46

up with the kid at around,

13:48

like, eleven thirty, twelve ish.

13:50

She put him on the bed She

13:52

slept beside him and she was crying.

13:55

And I was looking

13:57

I asked her why you're crying and

13:59

she didn't answer. And then she

14:01

slept Then she woke

14:04

up around, like, three in the morning.

14:06

She came into my office. She

14:08

stand up by the door and she was asking

14:10

me till how long we're gonna

14:12

keep, like, somehow

14:14

separated inside the house, you Knows,

14:17

like, Ali

14:18

tells me that the argument he had with

14:20

Nadia the night before she went missing

14:22

was about the separation in

14:24

their marriage. that Nadia wanted to

14:26

start getting closer again.

14:29

Talk of marriage trouble can

14:31

often take people past their breaking

14:33

point and I ask

14:35

Ali about that.

14:37

Did any of the arguments that you might have

14:39

had with her ever get physical? Were you

14:41

ever physical with Nadia if you ever argued with her? Was

14:43

it just verbal. No.

14:45

No. I like I like more.

14:47

I'm

14:47

a former policeman in my country,

14:50

and I'm very aware of

14:52

documenting things I'm

14:54

very popular with the courts

14:57

and the prosecutors. I

14:59

grew up with judges, so

15:02

I'm very aware not putting

15:04

myself behind the bars of

15:06

any aggressive or any,

15:08

like, any soda I have. I

15:10

don't translate my thoughts or

15:12

my words into a

15:14

harmful action.

15:17

Ali

15:19

says that he was not physically

15:21

abusive towards Nadia. I

15:23

focused on the relationship leading up to

15:25

her disappearance. because,

15:27

like, during that time, December,

15:30

she went back to a problem

15:32

to understand And I was

15:34

like, I don't assault her. I

15:36

don't hear that. But, like,

15:38

when there is a conflict between you and the

15:40

person, you you don't

15:42

do sex anymore. You know, like, I

15:44

was, like, a way of that sexual

15:46

activities because the care

15:48

mental issue wasn't very good.

15:51

And for me like myself, I

15:53

never touched her when she is

15:55

mentally not good. I

15:58

feel myself like that

16:00

person if I do that. Anyway,

16:02

she was arguing about that, and I

16:04

told her, like, yeah, when things is

16:06

better, we can we can back

16:09

together. But do we use

16:11

to sleep on the same bed?

16:13

And so you sometimes shared the

16:15

bed with her when you were divorced or

16:17

only this time? Or No. No.

16:19

Knows we get divorced, no. There's a

16:22

a ceremony like a like

16:25

temporary divorce. Ali

16:27

explains that his Islamic divorce from

16:29

Nadia was temporary with a

16:31

ninety day period in which the

16:33

couple can attempt to reconcile.

16:35

During this period in April of two thousand

16:38

seventeen, he says that

16:40

Nadia took their Mohammed, and went to stay

16:42

with her parents. Text messages

16:44

that I have seen between Nadia and her

16:46

parents provide another piece to

16:48

this story In April,

16:50

Nadia was admitted to the hospital due

16:52

to a bipolar episode. She

16:55

says Ali brought Mohammed for a

16:57

visit and we fought again.

16:59

I told him to leave because he kept

17:02

talking about divorce. And every

17:04

time I see him, I get stressed,

17:06

but I wanna see Muhammad. Still,

17:09

Ali says Nadia wanted to

17:11

get back together.

17:13

Back to

17:15

Ali's description of the mourning of

17:18

Nadia's disappearance, So I

17:19

went around five in the morning.

17:21

I finished my documents, and I

17:24

went to bed. And when I

17:26

went to bed, after, like, five

17:28

minutes, she started to say something.

17:30

I couldn't understand, like, in a

17:32

different Canadian weird language. I

17:34

woke her up and I

17:36

asked her what you're saying.

17:37

She said, like, I didn't say anything.

17:39

Maybe I was just dreaming.

17:43

And I said, okay. And then I

17:45

just felt

17:46

asleep. I

17:47

was hugging her, and I

17:50

felt asleep. I

17:52

woke up six thirty in the

17:54

morning. There was an alarm.

17:56

Right? I woke up on her

17:57

alarm. She Atwi up six thirty

17:59

in the morning to get ready. So

18:01

when the alarm rang, I wake

18:03

up, but I didn't open my eyes,

18:05

but I felt her wearing

18:08

air clothes. Right? Like,

18:10

she's fucking close on. And

18:12

when she went downstairs, I just

18:14

passed out again. I didn't talk to her

18:16

in the morning or anything because,

18:19

like, I was just tired that

18:21

was, like, one hour of sleep or one

18:23

and a half hour of sleep.

18:25

And then she went down. And when

18:27

she went down, I felt

18:29

the sleep again. And I woke

18:32

up again, like, on the door and

18:34

knocking at around seven.

18:37

went down, I find her mom

18:39

on the door. She said,

18:41

where where she has. We are already,

18:43

like, under saw I felt like

18:46

she's cutting a laundry. So I

18:48

went downstairs. My mom used to

18:50

live and used to sleep in the

18:52

basement. So I looked

18:54

at the laundry. I didn't find her I

18:56

asked my mom, I wake her up. She say,

18:58

like, no. I went to the backyard.

19:00

I didn't find her. I went

19:02

back up to the washroom

19:04

I didn't find her.

19:06

But when I went to the garage and

19:08

I didn't find her vehicle, then

19:11

I told her mom that she might have left to

19:13

the school. and

19:15

I started to call her.

19:17

She didn't answer, and I started

19:19

messaging her. She didn't answer.

19:21

And then

19:22

her mother came and start

19:24

yelling at me, like, accusing

19:27

me for her disappearance right

19:29

away. And I was like, what are you

19:31

what are you saying that, like, you

19:33

see, Like, you see the car is not

19:35

there, like, why you're saying that

19:37

she's disappeared. Like, why you're

19:40

saying so? Ali

19:42

says

19:42

that he removed Sawa from

19:44

the house because she was yelling

19:46

and his son was asleep.

19:49

So

19:49

after that, I kept

19:51

like texting Nadia, calling her,

19:53

calling her, she doesn't

19:54

know and Sammy. Then,

19:57

like, after eight thirty, it

19:59

sounds like she would be now at

20:02

school. So anyway, I

20:04

went back to sleep. I slept

20:06

for one hour or two hours, and

20:08

I wake up like around

20:10

damage. I called my

20:13

friend to pick me up to

20:15

hair school because, like, we have one car

20:17

and I work delivery of

20:18

the scar. AIDS are delivered. Sal

20:21

would deny

20:22

saying Nadia had disappeared,

20:24

but even if she had

20:26

Is it odd that Ali would go back

20:28

to bed after seeing Sawa, not

20:31

hearing from Nadia, and the car

20:33

being gone when he needed it for

20:35

pizza delivery? So I went to

20:36

the school and I didn't find

20:39

my car in the parking lot because,

20:41

like, I felt like I could take the

20:43

car with my burgies.

20:46

Right? And

20:46

so when you called your friend,

20:48

did

20:48

you say,

20:49

hi friend, Nadia's missing, come to

20:52

the school with me, or did you say,

20:54

hi friend, I need my car, can you take me to the school? Do you

20:56

remember? Yeah.

20:58

I

20:58

told them, like, get to come and pick me up

21:00

to the school. Like, as example,

21:03

if I think she's missing, why would I

21:05

go to school? Right? I would call

21:07

the police. The

21:09

friend who drove Valley that morning is Gihad

21:12

Azur. Who was that

21:14

that drove you? My

21:16

friend

21:16

at that time, he is a friend

21:19

a friend of me. Okay. I

21:21

wonder if

21:21

Ali said anything on the drive to

21:23

the school. To try to find out,

21:25

I've attempted to reach out to you had on

21:27

Facebook, but he does not respond. Back

21:30

to Ali, who is at this point,

21:32

in the parking lot of the Albocure

21:35

Academy, looking for the car. He

21:37

does not speak to Sawa.

21:39

I went.

21:40

I didn't find the car, so I had to

21:43

go inside. I

21:45

had to go and side and I

21:47

asked about the idea. They

21:49

told me that

21:51

she's not there. She didn't

21:53

show up today.

21:54

the

21:55

And then, like, at this

21:57

moment, I called the police

21:59

right away

21:59

and report for missing person

22:02

because,

22:02

like, I reported to the police before

22:04

a couple times about her, my

22:06

pleasure. Right? Because she starts

22:09

screaming, I'm yelling, the breaking

22:11

things. Not to be honest

22:13

with you, I'm a previous placement.

22:15

So I just wanted to protect

22:18

myself if somebody if

22:20

somebody injured themselves. So I'm not

22:22

to be blamed on, but, you know, I mean,

22:24

right. Aileen's version

22:25

suggests that he reported Nadia

22:27

missing at around midday,

22:29

almost immediately after learning that

22:31

she did not show up to work.

22:34

Ali also seems to suggest that based

22:36

on his policing experience,

22:38

he understood that he would be a prime

22:40

suspect if Nadia had in fact

22:42

gone missing, so he went to

22:44

the police as soon as he could to get

22:46

ahead of it.

22:47

So you said that

22:49

there were some other occasions she left

22:51

and I read about that as well. Did

22:53

you report her missing on those

22:56

how long did it take before you you

22:58

did that? Yeah.

23:00

Like,

23:00

and a beginning guy used to

23:02

call her family

23:05

right away. Right? Oh, I see. Yeah.

23:07

Her

23:07

family used to it's okay.

23:09

It's fine. She used to do that.

23:12

Take take easy, but

23:14

I I remember I

23:16

reported her once and

23:19

I think in the beginning of two thousand

23:22

seventeen, like around

23:24

January, February.

23:27

Oh, okay. And how many times would you

23:29

say that when you knew Nadia that she left

23:31

home sort of without telling you

23:33

where she was going? Maybe

23:35

six

23:37

or seven times. Okay.

23:39

Six or seven times.

23:41

Before marrying Ali, Nadia lived

23:43

with her mother and father. Sawa

23:45

tells me that when Nadia lived with

23:47

her, she left home on two occasions.

23:51

careful to stress that Nadia never

23:53

ran away. Sawa says on

23:55

those occasions, Nadia would check-in

23:57

with them. On the first occasion

23:58

Nadia drove to Calgary and was away

24:01

for most of the day. She called her

24:03

father on the way and

24:05

said she needed the drive. She returned

24:07

with sweets from her favorite Lebanese bakery.

24:09

On the second occasion, she

24:11

drove to Gibbons, a small town, a

24:13

short drive northeast of Edmonton.

24:16

Again, she called her father on the way

24:18

and she returned home shortly

24:20

thereafter. After Nadia

24:22

moved in with Ali, Salwa says

24:25

that he only knows of one occasion when

24:27

Nadia left. According to

24:29

Sawa, on that occasion, Ali

24:31

took Nadia's car keys after he

24:33

and Nadia had had an argument.

24:35

So Nadia walked on her own

24:37

around Edmonton. Ali called

24:40

Zawa and asked her to help

24:42

him search for Nadia. She

24:44

was missing and

24:46

she was missing 467

24:49

hours Then she went by

24:51

herself, the police station, or

24:53

I don't know, like After a

24:54

couple of hours, they received

24:57

a call from the local police station where

24:59

Nadia had gone on her own and

25:01

was waiting to be picked up. because

25:03

sometimes, like, she went the middle of the

25:05

night, she drive the red deer and, like,

25:08

According to our research Atwi no

25:10

time did Nadia's family report her missing

25:12

to police, but it

25:14

seems Ali did. As

25:16

Edmonton police have declined involvement

25:18

in my investigation, I'm unable

25:20

to verify whether or not

25:22

Nadia was ever reported missing

25:25

prior to a disappearance or by

25:27

whom. So that's why

25:28

I use always to call the place and

25:30

to call ambulances just to

25:32

make sure that I don't get

25:35

nobody point at me that I'm doing something

25:38

good. Anyway,

25:39

before I just want to mention to

25:42

you, before that event, that

25:44

event happened on a Friday. On Sunday,

25:47

they have a party at school

25:49

like ceremony or something. And

25:52

she was asking me before that

25:54

couple is that she can provide

25:56

work at

25:58

that location anymore. She's

25:59

she's not here. But

26:02

I talked to the school manager and

26:04

he told me, Knows. We can't

26:06

do that. There is a penalty and

26:08

staff. And I told him that

26:10

she have a mental issue and she can't

26:12

work. She's begging me every

26:14

day to talk to you that can't

26:16

work anymore. When I talked to

26:18

him, he wasn't very understanding of

26:20

the situation. And I told her,

26:22

like, do you see, like, we can't do

26:25

nothing? And I was, like, encouraging

26:27

her to teach, right, to

26:29

work with her education because, like

26:31

I have

26:32

reached out to principal USama, the

26:34

head of Nadia's school, and he

26:36

does not recall ever having this

26:38

conversation with Ali. He is also

26:40

not aware of any similar conversations

26:43

Ali could have had with Nadia's colleagues,

26:45

and principal USama says

26:48

that there were no signs of Nadia

26:50

considering leaving. So

26:52

do you think the

26:53

principal of the school was

26:56

aware of Nadia not being

26:58

happy there? Yeah.

26:59

It

27:01

was. At that

27:02

time before she disappeared just in

27:04

the month or so before she disappeared.

27:06

the relationship doesn't sound like it was

27:09

so smooth. Do you

27:10

think that if Nadia hadn't disappeared

27:12

that you guys would have gotten

27:15

closer? Do you feel like you were getting

27:17

closer at the time she disappeared?

27:20

Yeah. For sure. So

27:22

then what happened after you reported her missing?

27:24

Did you go

27:25

tell Sawa? Yeah.

27:27

After

27:27

I reported her missing, the

27:30

the police told me that

27:32

we get issued

27:34

a missing warning on the street. There is

27:36

a twenty four hours of her

27:38

being missing So I went

27:40

and I rent or, like, because I

27:42

had work and I didn't know, like,

27:44

if she's driving or not driving or

27:46

whatever happened. I didn't know. Anyway,

27:49

like, I went and rent a car

27:51

and I went to

27:53

my work. And the police

27:55

called me around ten

27:57

PM saying that they

27:59

locate her vehicle

27:59

Canadian the park. and they

28:02

move it to the police

28:04

compound.

28:05

Okay. And

28:06

then so the next day, you are

28:08

asked to come in and talk to them?

28:10

So

28:10

then the next day, I went to the

28:13

police compound to take the

28:15

car, and then they

28:17

asked me to stay to sit down

28:19

for a bit, and then ask thirty

28:21

minutes, two detectives showed

28:23

up and asked me to

28:25

go and meet them at the police

28:27

station because they didn't have

28:29

an arrest warranty or

28:31

everything to to take me in their

28:33

vehicle. So

28:34

I took a taxi and

28:36

I met them and they started

28:38

to investigate with me about

28:41

everything, like timelines

28:44

and everything. The

28:46

investigation And then

28:47

they so did they just release

28:49

you after interviewing you a couple of

28:51

times? Or

28:53

Actually, like, they

28:55

released me, but I was under surveillance. Right? Like, I

28:58

was, like I'm very very honest

29:00

surveillance. I could tell myself

29:02

Like, even my phone, like, I lose the

29:04

battery in my phone. They will, like, when

29:06

I open it, I find, like, hundred

29:09

must calls. asking

29:10

me not to turn

29:13

my phone. I don't

29:15

know, like, somehow, like, on my

29:17

phone JPS because I gave

29:19

them my phones as well. Right? Like, so as a

29:21

volunteer lead, they asked

29:23

me to give them my phone, like,

29:25

to check on my computers and

29:28

I'm every old digital

29:30

equipments I have. So I give them

29:32

everything. Right? I was very

29:34

honest and like, I wanted to

29:36

find her too.

29:37

I

29:38

wanna try for more concrete evidence.

29:41

As her husband, Ali was granted

29:43

what sounds like at least some access to

29:45

the police investigation. Maybe he can

29:47

shed some light on a few details. The

29:50

dash camera video I first heard about

29:52

from Nadia's cousin Nadal is a

29:54

good place to start.

29:56

You

29:58

know, like, she went

29:59

in the ditch a little bit in the

30:02

ditch. Right? And the vehicle stopped

30:04

because, like, there was a plenty

30:06

of bushes preventing the vehicle like

30:08

the proceed.

30:09

And I have the

30:11

dash camera video. They

30:13

chose the cow. She's driving critical

30:16

and she's like passing some red

30:18

lights. I can

30:20

help you with that if you want like

30:23

one day. Do you

30:24

actually have the video?

30:26

Yeah. Yeah. I have the copy with him. Oh,

30:28

okay. I would love to get a copy of that to

30:30

see because of the theaters took to see

30:33

exactly how she was driving. Ali

30:35

promises to send it to me, but

30:37

later, he messages that he will not

30:39

be sending me citing police

30:42

protocol as his reasoning. So

30:44

we continue with Ali's recollection

30:47

of it.

30:48

do

30:50

show the whole thing from the house, like,

30:53

from the time she start going from

30:55

the house, she go to the

30:57

rental part, the same spot.

30:59

She put the car. She get outside the

31:01

rental park. She

31:02

go do a loop on Anthony Handy.

31:05

She come back to the park.

31:07

And before that place

31:09

where they find the car at like

31:11

twenty meters, the camera

31:14

just stopped or there's no more

31:16

videos And the first video

31:18

after this is when the police

31:20

have the camera and they turn

31:22

it on inside the vehicle.

31:25

Anthony Henday Drive as a seventy

31:27

eight kilometer highway that circles around

31:30

Edmonton. It is also the

31:32

route that Nadia and Sawa often

31:34

took to the school each morning. In

31:36

examining the geography, Anthony Henday

31:38

is not a likely route to sell us

31:40

home, and in my opinion, is an

31:43

inefficient way to get to or from

31:45

Rundle Park. But according to Ali's memory

31:47

of the dashcam video, the

31:49

car first navigates to Randall

31:51

Park, then gets on the

31:53

highway and circles back to the far

31:55

entrance of the park where it is found

31:57

twenty meters away from where the dashcam

32:00

turns off. So if it was

32:02

behind the wheel, she was probably

32:04

not on her way to pick up Sawa.

32:07

And the choice to get on the highway could

32:09

suggest travel toward the school,

32:11

but obviously something changed.

32:13

And can

32:14

you see Nadia? Do we know what's

32:16

Nadia driving the car? That's

32:17

the thing. No. Because

32:20

it's dash camera showing like

32:22

but at some point, there is like

32:24

a harsh voice. I know it's her

32:27

voice when she

32:29

gets very mad or disoriented.

32:32

And I hear, like, at some point,

32:34

the police focus on that

32:36

voice inside of in the

32:38

investigations around that voice,

32:40

and they made me, like, here at, like, hundred

32:42

times just to confirm whether that

32:45

was Nadia or not. But

32:47

I could say, like, it Nadia,

32:49

and she was responding

32:51

on the messages I'm getting, but

32:54

she wasn't responding, like, on

32:56

the text, she was responding

32:58

verbally, right, without,

33:00

like, I don't know if she's reading my messages,

33:02

but she was like, every time maybe

33:04

she's seen my name, calling her,

33:07

or text thing here, she say, like like

33:09

fuck off or something. You know, fuck

33:11

you. Oh,

33:12

so you you could hear her in

33:15

the car responding to

33:17

you?

33:17

responding verbally, you know, Knows, responding

33:20

verbally on my phone. You know,

33:22

like, when somebody calling you, you don't

33:25

answer you just say something? Angry

33:27

and

33:28

cursing under her breath. I'll

33:31

Atwi least describe very harsh voice reminds me

33:34

of Adele's account of the voice with some

33:36

key differences. Adele said

33:38

it was more like a cough and

33:40

that he and other members of Nadia's

33:42

family agreed that it sounded nothing

33:44

like Nadia. But Ali

33:47

frames it that he recognized this

33:49

as Nadia's disoriented voice.

33:52

So

33:52

there is no real proof that she

33:54

was actually driving that car.

33:56

Yeah. That that's for the police. Right.

34:00

I'm curious

34:01

about Aileen's theories about

34:04

Nadia's disappearance. this

34:06

is the first period that she went in the

34:08

Ridgen, like, the

34:11

less percentage. One of high

34:14

percentage theory that

34:16

it's been disoriented. Like,

34:19

after the impact, she

34:22

becomes disoriented. and she walked. I

34:24

believe she walked into high

34:26

risk Knows. And

34:29

during the misoriented situation

34:32

that she's in. She

34:34

maybe asked somebody for

34:36

help, and those people

34:40

abused her. because my wife become very

34:42

dominated, very submissive.

34:44

I don't know how if

34:46

you understand that, but, like, She'd

34:49

like to take orders. I

34:52

hate that. Like, she become

34:54

literally, doesn't do nothing unless you tell

34:56

her what she do, and she become,

34:58

like, she doesn't know what to

35:00

do. If you don't tell her,

35:02

like, to go to the washroom, she

35:04

won't go Is it

35:06

possible Nadia was injured,

35:09

stumbled for help, and was taken

35:11

by a third party? Yes.

35:13

But I've not seen any physical evidence linking Nadia

35:15

to Hermitage Park or any other

35:18

location outside of the car and its

35:20

immediate vicinity. It's

35:22

about a forty five minute walk from where the

35:24

car was found to

35:26

hermitage. Was there

35:28

any

35:28

evidence that Nadia had used her credit

35:31

cars or anything or her phone or

35:33

anything afterwards? No.

35:34

Her phone has been found in

35:36

the car. The police have it for a while,

35:38

and then they gave it to me. I

35:41

tried to open a like, I couldn't open it. The police had

35:43

to reset it. I didn't have the

35:45

password for Navient. I

35:48

tried to reset it, but I don't believe that there is anything

35:50

suspicious. I have her email that

35:52

was on a computer. I have her

35:56

email address. I have her Facebook right now, like and I never

35:58

posted anything against anybody on there. I

36:00

never used it for personal

36:02

use just

36:04

the track. I did change the password just to know, like, if

36:06

she someday, like, would try to

36:08

log in. Right? Like, then she

36:10

have to change her own

36:12

password. Ali

36:13

says he

36:15

never posted anything

36:17

on Nadia's account. but

36:18

he did use his own a few times to out at

36:20

Nadia's family and which

36:23

fueled accusations from onlookers. I'm

36:28

happy. I'm not happy that

36:30

my wife is missing, but I'm a

36:32

little bit like, okay, with that to happen.

36:34

And can and there is a fair judgment for

36:36

everybody. Like, if I'm guilty,

36:38

yeah, I

36:40

deserve anybody guilty

36:42

for this, like, deserve a present.

36:44

Right? I'm not saying

36:46

anything, but, like, I'm not that one

36:48

that you're looking for. I'm looking

36:50

for my wife, but you don't want

36:52

me to. Like, this has affect

36:54

my ability to look after

36:56

her. Even like people in the

36:58

street, like, they call

37:00

me murder,

37:00

sometimes people, I think,

37:02

need you to say publicly that you had nothing

37:04

to do with it, and that they need you to say it

37:06

over and over again. I think that sometimes

37:10

that helps. Because,

37:11

like, after four years, do you wanna

37:14

still, like, misjudging me? No.

37:16

You Knows because I'm

37:18

still here. I just didn't run away. Right? I didn't I couldn't, like, take my

37:20

kids and go to Europe or go to

37:22

America or it go. Anyway,

37:24

I'll go back to my country, but I didn't

37:26

do that.

37:28

I'm still here. I'm facing

37:30

the sink

37:30

over here. I ask Ali if

37:32

there was any indication that

37:35

Nadia was feeling suicidal. I

37:38

guess I don't know how close you were in terms of

37:40

talking about emotions and feelings like

37:42

that. Sometimes people never talk about these things

37:44

like if they wanna hurt themselves or but

37:47

did you ever hear her say that she wanted to hurt

37:50

herself or or end her

37:52

life? Well, now

37:52

that she was bipolar. Yeah.

37:55

She she always like hear things

37:57

and talk about things, like and that's

37:59

what's the issue with me too. Like,

38:01

she could start

38:04

talking about things. And you don't know exactly.

38:06

Like, she keeps talking about

38:08

things, none end. Right? Like, she stay

38:10

awake for a week, man. Like, and

38:14

sleep. Sawa has been

38:16

able

38:16

to provide some clarity surrounding

38:18

questions about Nadia's mental health.

38:21

She messages me that an Edmonton police

38:23

constable apparently told her that

38:25

police reviewed Nadia's medical records

38:27

and the records did not indicate

38:29

signs of suicidal behavior. But

38:32

without assistance from police, I

38:34

cannot verify

38:36

this. Do you think she would ever want to leave your son, Mohammed?

38:39

No. No. But,

38:40

like, you're judging you're

38:44

now asking question based

38:46

on a judgment with a normal person, but

38:48

you never saw her like this oriented tool

38:50

-- Right. -- to make this question.

38:54

To

38:54

me, not a straightforward answer.

38:56

To my knowledge, I Leaf NICE has never

38:58

been asked outright if he had anything to

39:00

do with Nadia's disappearance despite

39:03

the accusations and speculation and questions

39:05

about his character. So I

39:07

give him the chance. i given

39:09

the chance

39:12

So then did you Ali have anything to do with

39:14

the disappearance of Nadia Ridgen? Well,

39:18

sure not.

39:18

even 110

39:21

point one percent of that

39:23

that thing. I don't care, but the

39:25

thing I care

39:28

about that I am ahead of you, of the police, of her

39:30

parents, of everybody because

39:32

I have and I know myself,

39:35

hundred percent I have nothing zero percent

39:38

related to my

39:40

missing one.

39:44

Where is Nadia Adi?

39:46

This kind hearted

39:49

person. A mother, a

39:51

teacher, a relative, and

39:53

a quiet friend. Another case

39:56

about someone we would all have liked

39:58

to have met. Her

40:00

mother and others I

40:02

have interviewed suggests that her final months appear to be

40:04

unhappy, uncertain ones.

40:06

Her case mobilized an community

40:10

asking for action in the media and

40:12

by appearances at least

40:14

getting very little on the

40:16

ground. While he maintains his innocence,

40:18

it seems not his husband

40:20

Ali is focused on by some

40:22

because of his actions while they were

40:24

together Canadian the aftermath of

40:26

her disappearance, What happened in those early morning hours is a

40:28

Knows, but also Nadia state

40:30

of mind and sense of self worth and

40:33

the relationship has that stood. Who drove the car

40:35

that morning and was it Nadia

40:38

speaking on the

40:40

dashcam? If

40:42

somebody heard or saw something the day of Natty's disappearance

40:44

or that they think might be

40:46

important, I'd urge them to come

40:48

urge them to come forward forward.

40:51

If you have anything else, let me know. Just keep sending me stuff. All

40:53

that is good information, and I'm not going

40:56

anywhere, so I'm here to to look at

40:58

the case. Thank you, Sella. Okay. Okay. Thank you so much.

41:00

Thank you. You too. Thank

41:02

you. Mhmm.

41:02

So I never met you from talking.

41:04

I I don't know. I'm I

41:07

Knows really feeling, hopefully,

41:09

we will find the solution. I

41:11

hope so too.

41:12

I hope so too, and we're we'll

41:14

do our best. Thank you very much.

41:17

Thank

41:17

you. Okay. Bye bye. You have a great

41:19

day. You too. Bye

41:22

bye.

41:22

Bye. This

41:34

is the final regularly

41:37

planned episode in the case

41:39

of Nadia Adweek. If you have

41:41

any information regarding

41:44

her disappearance, the time to come forward

41:47

is now. The next

41:49

call is hosted, written, and produced

41:51

by me, David David.

41:54

This series is also produced by Hadeel Abdul Nabi,

41:56

sound designed by Evan

41:58

Kelly. Our senior producer

42:00

is Cecil Fernandez.

42:03

Emily

42:03

Cannell is our digital producer and our

42:05

story editor is Chris Oakes.

42:07

Transcriptions by Natalia Ferguson,

42:10

Farad Mehta, Luke Williams

42:12

Parant, and Frankie Fyhr Arini.

42:14

Evan

42:14

Agard is our video producer. Ben

42:16

Shannon designed our artwork. Our

42:19

cross

42:19

promo producer is Amanda

42:21

Cox. Special thanks to Alex Zabtec and

42:23

the CBC reference library.

42:26

The director of CBC Podcasts is

42:29

RF Narani, our executive

42:31

director is Leslie Merklinger. If

42:33

you want to help new listeners discover

42:35

the show, please rate and review

42:37

wherever you if you're

42:39

looking for more investigations, check out someone knows something.

42:41

Each season I investigate a different unsolved

42:44

case from a five year old

42:46

who goes

42:48

missing after a family fishing trip to a mother's decades

42:50

long search for justice. Find

42:52

someone knows something on the CBC

42:54

Listen app or wherever you get

42:58

your podcast. I'm David Riggen. We'll be back

43:00

soon with a new case and the

43:02

next

43:04

call. For

43:07

more CBC

43:09

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43:10

go to c

43:13

a slash podcasts.