Saudi student disappearance still mystery

A year has passed and still not much is known about a University of Saskatchewan student from Saudi Arabia who mysteriously disappeared in Saskatoon. Except for a jacket found on the city’s Train Bridge, Hamza Alsharief seemingly vanished without a trace last December.

The Saudi Arabian govern- ment has been heavily involved in the search for Alsharief, hiring a private detective and funding a search of the South Saskatchewan River.

“The police have told us consistently there’s no evidence of foul play, and the private detective hasn’t found any evidence of foul play,” said Gar Knutson, lawyer for the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Ottawa. “The police have been extremely transparent in their investigation.” He said the top theory right now is that Alsharief fell into the river.

“But people that know rivers and bodies say that normally a body would have shown up by now. So it’s still an extremely unusual and puzzling case,” said Knutson.

The 23-year-old had just finished writing his final exams for his third year of chemical engineering. His sister Laila Alsharief said she spoke to her brother on the phone just days before he went missing.

She had been studying in Waterloo and was Alsharief’s only family member in Canada. Knutson said Laila recently moved back to Saudi Arabia and is “devastated” by her brother’s disappearance.

Knutson also said the family was considering offering a reward, but police advised against it to eliminate any bogus leads.