Features Out of the Cold
File # 6: Foul play suspected in Hamilton cold case

In May 2006, Nuseiba Hasan completed her final term at Fanshawe College in London, Ont., having opted not to return for the next semester. In the fall that year, Hasan was last known to have been seen alive when a family member dropped her off at her rural home, a farm property located at 1207 Concession 8 Road West in Flamborough, Ont. She has not been seen since.

The incident went unreported for almost a decade. Hamilton Police were baffled when a family member of the missing woman finally reported her disappearance on Feb. 12, 2015—nine years after she had last been seen. The Homicide Squad immediately knew it’d be a “difficult case” when the nine-year gap involving Hasan’s whereabouts was eventually divulged to police.

“The biggest issue we’ve come across is the gap from the last time she was seen until the time it was reported,” said Detective Sergeant Peter Thom.

Police discovered a rift had developed in the family years earlier when Hasan gave birth to a daughter, who was later put up for adoption. Hasan, the second youngest of nine siblings, only had support from a portion of her family. The other half of the family was “not supportive,” according to police. Soon after a missing person report was filed, the property where Hasan had last been seen alive, went up for sale. The family had returned to Jordan in the Middle East.

With consent from the new homeowner, Hamilton Police conducted a thorough examination of the 22-hectare Flamborough property. Investigators tore apart the farmhouse and dug up the property using ground-penetrating radar, cadaver dogs and the expertise of a forensic anthropologist. No evidence was found in the exhaustive five-day search.

Police checked every avenue, including the missing persons and unidentified human remains program. They have been unable to establish any form of activity involving Hasan beyond 2006 but investigators suspect “foul play” in Hasan’s disappearance.

Hamilton police identified two “persons of interest” in the case, both family members of the missing woman. The geographic barrier of the family’s relocation overseas, combined with the death of one of the potential suspects left police with additional obstacles. Investigators have also been unable to interview their “main source” in the investigation.

“The ones we believe can assist in the investigation are not cooperating,” said Thom, noting that, despite these obstacles, finding her body remains a top priority for Hamilton’s major crime unit.

Hasan’s adopted daughter, now a university student in Ontario, conducted research about her genetic parents which led to discovering the cold case involving her birth mother. She has since contacted homicide investigators in Hamilton, desperate to find out what happened to her mother, Nuseiba Hasan. Hamilton Police are actively seeking answers to questions about Hasan’s suspicious disappearance in 2006 and the foul play they believe led to her murder.

Anyone with information about this case can contact Det. Sgt. Peter Thom of the Major Crime Unit at 905-546-2458 or anonymously at Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Stephen Metelsky, M.A., is a writer, (ret.) police sergeant and professor at Mohawk College. Find him on LinkedIn, follow him @StephenMetelsky or email Stephen.Metelsky@mohawkcollege.ca.

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