Saudi Gazette report

 

DAMMAM — Two years have passed since the mysterious disappearance of a Saudi student in Canada but there is still no trace of him, reported Al-Hayat on Wednesday.



Hamza Al-Sharif, 23, disappeared from his home in Saskatoon in south Canada on Dec. 15, 2012. He was studying chemical engineering at Saskatoon University.



Al-Sharif disappeared while he was doing his third semester final exams. The search being conducted by Canadian federal police and the Civil Defense has so far failed to turn up any results.



A spokesman of the Saudi Embassy in Ottawa said many dead bodies were found during the search but Al-Sharif was not among them.



Zaid Al-Harbe, director of the embassy's department of information, said during the search detectives found a jacket that was believed to belong to the missing man.



"It was later confirmed to us that Al-Sharif was wearing this jacket before he went missing," he added.



Al-Harbe said though almost two years have passed since his disappearance, there have been no new developments in the search for Al-Sharif.



He said the embassy has hired a private detective and has also contracted a specialized US company to look for him.



“The company has used boats, helicopters and other means to comb the area but still there has been no trace of the missing student,” he said.



The spokesman said what made Al-Sharif's disappearance even more mysterious was that all his personal belongings, including his passport, purse and mobile phone, were found intact in his apartment.



“No money had been withdrawn from his bank account since he disappeared,” he added.



The spokesman said the last telephone call Al-Sharif had made before his disappearance was to his sister Laila, who is studying in another state in Canada.



Al-Sahrif was a resident of the Al-Manar district in Jeddah. The family has still not lost hope of finding their son.