EARLY LIFE:
Emily Bailey was born in December 1998 as the fourth of five siblings. She was close to her mother, Lori Bevan, and her older brother, Ben Bailey, with whom she shared many private jokes and kept in constant contact.
Growing up, Emily moved between neighbourhoods in east and central Hamilton, Ontario, and attended four elementary schools between junior kindergarten and grade eight. While she attended Hill Park Secondary School as a teenager, she reportedly missed most of her classes, having become friends with a group of students who weren’t necessarily the best people to hang out with. During this time, she continued to move around a lot, spending a few years in Brampton, and struggled with depression.
According to relatives and friends, Emily was full of personality and incredibly outgoing. While she may have struggled later in life, she was, at heart, a good person who made friends everywhere she went, as her sense of humour was contagious.
As she entered adulthood, Emily began to struggle with drug addiction and homelessness, which she tried to hide from her family out of fear they’d reject her. She managed to get clean twice – both times when she was pregnant – but found herself sucked back into that world once she’d given birth.
Given this lifestyle, Emily often found herself sleeping in tents or couch surfing. Not the sort of environment you’d want to raise children, her two daughters, Harper and Kynslee, lived with their grandparents. Emily was determined to make a change and was putting a plan in place to get clean, find employment and counselling, and get her girls back.
In the fall of 2021, Emily began seeing a man named Jeffrey “Jeff” Johnson – a friend’s brother-in-law. The relationship was described as rocky by friends, who also revealed to the media that Emily soon got pregnant. The then-23-year-old also began to change. Once an avid poster on social media, by that December she’d stopped posting entirely.
DISAPPEARANCE:
The days before Emily’s disappearance saw her spending time with friends. On the evening of Christmas, she was with a close friend. She, again, visited this person three days later to dye her hair and have dinner.
On December 31, 2021, she and Jeff visited another friend, Nikki. The trio hung out until 10:30 PM, at which point the couple got into a cab to return to Jeff’s house. According to the driver, he and Emily were dropped off at the residence on Weir Street North, near Barton Street East and Kenilworth Avenue North.
Emily had told Nikki they were attending a party, but many believe it was just the pair drinking at the house. She’d also reportedly messaged several people that day, inquiring about getting a ride somewhere.
After Emily’s disappearance, Brandon Hunter, her ex-boyfriend and the father of one of her daughters, claimed to have spoken with Jeff, who told him that the couple had gotten into an argument at some point that night. Emily left the house, but Jeff didn’t say where she’d went. At 2:39 AM the next morning, Brandon just so happened to send his ex a message on Facebook, which marked the last time Emily opened one from anyone.
It’s reported that the last time Emily was seen was between 8:00AM and 12:00 PM on January 1, 2022, on Weir Street. She’s hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
It took about a week and a half for the 23-year-old to be reported missing, when she failed to attend a scheduled visit with one of her daughters. Brandon called the police on January 10, 2022, after being unable to get ahold of her. Given she was in constant contact with her loved ones, this was seen as very out of character for Emily.
SEARCH:
Police attempted to search Jeff’s residence on the day Emily was reported missing, but he refused to let officers in, claiming he had COVID-19 and had just had hand surgery. He claimed the injury happened while he was sharpening a chainsaw on either January 2 or 3, 2022.
Given Jeff was the last person to see Emily alive, investigators conducted searches at properties he has ties to, including the house (via a search warrant) and a milling property in Dunnville, Ontario. Forensic testing was done at the residence, and nothing was reportedly found at the latter location.
Emily’s family was been active in the search from very early on, putting up missing persons posters, holding rallies and creating a dedicated Facebook group. They even contacted the organization Please Bring Me Home to see if its members would assist. While they did at first, the group paused their searches after speaking with the Hamilton Police Service, who stated the investigation was active. Please Bring Me Home tends to focus on cold cases.
Two months into the investigation, in March 2022, it was announced the case had been turned over to the Hamilton Police Service’s Homicide Unit, with investigators stating that, based on the evidence, they believed Emily was murdered and her body disposed of.
They also revealed they were looking for information about the owner of a dark or black GMC or Chevrolet pickup truck that Emily may have been connected to a week before her disappearance. Jeff owned a truck matching this description, which had been impounded on November 2021. He then borrowed a relative’s truck, which was also black. The latter was searched, but nothing of any significance was found.
In April 2022, police posted a media release to dispel rumours that Emily’s disappearance and presumed murder occurred at the hands of a serial killer targeting tattooed women in Hamilton and the surrounding area. The theory emerged after a post was shared to social media, suggesting a connection between Emily’s case and that of 33-year-old Stacie Rasberry, who went missing in February 2022, in the Niagara region. Investigators said there was no evidence the cases were connected, nor was there a serial killer on the loose.
Over a year later, in May 2023, an image was posted to Emily’s TikTok account, which hadn’t been active since before she went missing. It was a photograph of a dog and featured a 15-second clip of Fifty Fifty’s song, “Cupid”. Investigators believe the account was hacked and said they planned to reach out to TikTok.
In July 2023, Hamilton’s Police Board approved a $20,000 reward for information leading to the location of Emily’s remains and the conviction of those responsible for her disappearance. By this point, more than 30 witnesses had been interviewed, several search warrants executed, and searches conducted within and outside of Hamilton. Despite these efforts, little evidence has been uncovered, with investigators saying they’re running out of “investigative avenues”.
Emily’s DNA and information has since been uploaded into a national database. Investigators say there are people out there who know what happened, but they refuse to come forward.
DETAILS:
Emily Bailey was last seen on Weir Street in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on January 1, 2022. She was 23 years old, and was wearing a yellow Billabong-brand hoodie and a long black winter coat. She was also carrying a light blue backpack with black handles.
Emily is described as a White female who would, today, be 25 years old. She stands between 5’3″ and 5’4″, and weighs 100-134 pounds. At the time of her disappearance, she had shoulder-length black/brown hair with dyed-green highlights, and her eyes are brown.
The missing woman has two tattoos: an elephant on her left forearm and Batman’s symbol on the outside of her right forearm.
CASE CONTACT INFORMATION:
Emily’s disappearance is currently being investigated as a homicide, given the high possibility of foul play.
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact the Hamilton Police Service at either (905) 546-2963 or (905) 546-4863. Tips can also be submitted anonymously via Crime Stoppers at +1 (800) 222-8477.
Image Credit: Hamilton Police Service
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