Lydia Oyukuluk, 14, who was last seen Oct. 28 in the 1000 block of Gladstone Avenue, is shown in two photos released by the Ottawa Police Service. The photo on the right is an additional image taken before her disappearance and is the most recent photo police have available of her. (Photos courtesy of Ottawa Police Service)
Family searches for missing Inuk teen in Ottawa
Lydia Oyukuluk was last seen near her family’s home on Gladstone Avenue, her mother says
The mother of a missing 14-year-old Inuk girl is hoping her daughter will find her way home as Ottawa police and community members continue searching for her.
“I just want her home,” Julian Oyukuluk said in an interview Friday about her daughter, Lydia.
Lydia Oyukuluk was last seen Wednesday, Oct. 28, between 5:45 and 6 p.m. in the 1000 block of Gladstone Avenue, where she lives with her family, her mother said. It’s a bit south of the Hintonburg neighbourhood and a few blocks west of Preston Street’s Little Italy area.
Julian said she expected Lydia to return home that night. Lydia left without her cellphone, which is now with investigators, her mother said.
Family members, friends and members of Ottawa’s Inuit community have joined the search, Julian said. So far, they have looked in Major’s Hill Park near the Parliament Buildings and along the Rideau Canal.
“She’s very easy to approach,” Julian said of her daughter. “She’s friendly and she’s sensitive.”
The family is originally from Arctic Bay and has lived in Ottawa for more than a year, Julian said.
On Friday, Ottawa police asked residents in the 1000 block of Gladstone Avenue, including along Spadina Avenue and surrounding streets, to check their backyards, sheds, garages and other places where Lydia might have sought shelter.
Police are also asking residents to review doorbell camera and surveillance footage from Wednesday evening onward for possible sightings.
And police released a second picture of Lydia in which she’s wearing a prominent cross necklace. But police weren’t able to say whether she was wearing it when she went missing.
Lydia is described as four-foot-nine with a petite build and long black hair partially dyed red at the back.
She was last seen wearing baggy black sweatpants, a black camouflage hoodie and socks. She was not wearing shoes.
Ottawa police have also released an additional photo of Lydia taken before she went missing. The image is the most recent one available to police showing her appearance and build, said Ottawa Police media spokesperson Const. Fern John-Simon.
Anyone who sees Lydia Oyukuluk is asked to call 911 so she can receive immediate assistance, an updated release said. Anyone with information about her whereabouts can contact Ottawa police at 613-236-1222.
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