Arrest brings new focus on Project Houston, formed in 2012 after the disappearance of three men sparked fear in the Church-Wellesley area,
Before Prism, Project Houston investigated three missing immigrants from Church-Wellesley area
When Project Houston was formed to investigate the disappearance of three men known to frequent Toronto’s Gay Village between 2010 and 2012, some observers noticed right away the similarities of the missing people.
Skandaraj Navaratnam, 40, Majeed Kayhan, 58, and Abdulbasir Faizi, 42, were all middle-aged, of similar skin colour and immigration status. They were also “active” in the Church and Wellesley Sts. area, according to police at the time.
When news of their disappearance first emerged in 2012, El-Farouk Khaki, who founded the Unity Mosque, an LGBTQ prayer group, was very aware that the men weren’t white.
“Police have made great attempts at reconciliation with the community,” he said.
“But, it falls short by not recognizing that the queer community is not monolithic . . . Relationships need to be nurtured across.”
Project Houston was formed in November 2012, nearly five years before the disappearance of two other men prompted police to set up another task force.
Project Prism was set up last August to look into the disappearance of Andrew Kinsman and Selim Esen. Toronto police announced last week that they had charged Bruce McArthur with two counts of firstdegree murder, and believed there were more victims.
Project Prism operated separately but in parallel to Project Houston, Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray said in an email, with information shared between the two investigations.
The men’s disappearance sparked fear in the Church and Wellesley Sts. area.
Immigrants such as Esen or Faizi, for example, may not be as well connected as someone like Kinsman, who has an upbringing, friends and family rooted here.
“(An immigrant) whose family is 10,000 miles away, who may or may not have been out, may not have the resources for a search,” Khaki said.
Navaratnam was a Sri Lankan refugee who was last seen in the early hours of Sept. 6, 2010. He was seen leaving Zipperz, a popular gay bar in the Church and Carlton Sts. area, with an unknown man.
A close friend, Jody Becker, told Daily Xtra in 2013 that Navaratnam was a regular at the bar (where she worked as a bartender), along with Black Eagle and Pegasus, both located near Church and Wellesley Sts.
A police release described him as “brown, five-foot-eight, thin build, black hair, brown eyes with a black goatee.” He had no family members in Canada, according to a report by Daily Xtra at the time of his disappearance; his brother lived in Dubai.
On Sept. 20, Navaratnam’s friends began putting missing person posters in the Church-Wellesley and Cabbagetown areas, reported Daily Xtra. They also started a Facebook page dedicated to the search.
He was cautious, Becker said. He had an agreement with friend, Peter Maxwell, to inform him every time he’d be away from home.
“If (Navaratnam) wanted to be away for a little bit, he would call Peter to let him know he was OK,” Becker told the Mississauga News at the time.
There was no call in the days before he disappeared. He left his newly acquired dog behind, which police thought was unusual.
Becker described her friend as careful and happy with his life.
“His laugh was just ridiculous,” Becker said.
Three months later, on Dec. 29, 2010, Faizi, an immigrant from Af- ghanistan, was reported missing to Peel police. He was last seen leaving his workplace, a factory, on Kitimat Rd. in Mississauga at about 7 p.m. the night before. Faizi, who lived in Brampton with his wife and children, has not been heard from since.
Police said he was 5 feet 9 and weighted about 175 pounds. He had black hair with a black goatee. He was last seen wearing a brown winter jacket, a black T-shirt, blue jeans and white shoes.
His last known location was in the Church and Wellesley Sts. area. According to police, as reported by Daily Xtra, his bank records showed he last used his debit card at the Hero Burger on Church St.
His car, a 2002 Nissan, was found abandoned on Moore Ave., in the area of St. Clair Ave. and Mount Pleasant Rd.
“He usually came straight home after because they make him work 12hour shifts,” his sister-in-law, Nijiba, told Daily Xtra in 2013.
“He worked night and day. That night, he called my sister, his wife, and said, ‘I’m coming home late tonight.’ She asked him why, and he said he is going out with a friend from work.”
She told Daily Xtra that his wife called him around midnight but couldn’t reach him. He never called back.
Almost two years later, on Oct. 14, 2012, Majeed Kayhan was reported missing by his son. Little is known about where the Afghan immigrant was last seen, but police said he frequented the Church and Wellesley Sts. area. The owner of Black Eagle on Church St., Carlos Filetti, and a bartender, Gary Livingstone, told Daily Xtra three years ago that Kayhan was a regular and “out-ish.”
“His gay life was very compartmen- talized,” Livingstone said. “He came to the Village and was able to be who he really was, which was separate from his responsibilities with his family.”
“He just disappeared off the face of the Earth,” he said.
It wasn’t until June 2013 that To- ronto police linked the disappearances of all three men by their racial appearances and activities in the Village. They canvassed the area and handed out missing persons flyers.
Project Houston was formed five months later. The 18-month investigation saw police search cellphone, bank and social media records, according to a report in the Torontoist. They also canvassed the Village, and interviewed friends and family of the missing men.
These disappearances would resurface four years later when Project Prism was formed.