My sister, Nicole Vienneau, a Canadian tourist, disappeared in Syria on March 31st, 2007 at the age of 32. She was in her fifth month of a six-month solo adventure through West Africa and the Middle East. She was last seen by the desk clerk as she left the Cairo Hotel in Hama, two hours north of Damascus. We know she intended to return to the hotel as her backpack was left in her room along with the picture-filled memory cards from her camera. Nicole had recently been asking other guests and hotel staff about how to get to the "Beehive Houses", a local sightseeing destination, as well as Qasr Ibn Wardan (a nearby castle). No one at these locations recalls seeing Nicole (and they are not heavily visited). Nicole preferred taking local transit, but none of the minibus drivers or locals remembers her either. The streets from the hotel to the minibus pick-up are main streets with lots of people, even at 8:30 in the morning.
In May 2007, I flew to Syria with Nicole's fiancé Gary to re-trace her steps and meet with police and local officials. Gary spent an additional two months criss-crossing Syria searching for clues. My mother visited Syria in July 2007 and met with the Grand Mufti as well as the Minister of the Interior. She also made a personal plea on Syrian television and we put ads in the newspapers and local flyers. Gary and my mother returned to Syria in April of this year to raise awareness and follow up on leads with officials and the police. A third trip is planned for my mother in the coming months.
There is up to 2,250,000 Syrian pounds ($45,000) in reward money for information leading us to Nicole.
We are currently looking for other guests at the Cairo Hotel in case they spoke with Nicole.
We are currently very interested in finding Amin Ben Yahia, born in 1984, father's name is Abbas, mother's name is Monica, nationality - Algerian (Mother may be Swiss). Amin visited Qasr Ibn Wardan on the day Nicole disappeared and we'd love to ask if he saw or remembers anything unusual about that day
http://vienneau.livejournal.com/39588.html
At the link there is an archived journal of the search for Nicole and her brother updates regularly