Information Sought in the Forcible Confinement of Elderly Woman

Family members of Grace Wah are calling on the help of the public for information into what they're calling the abduction and forcible confinement of the 82 year old woman last week.

While pushing her shopping cart home in the late afternoon last Wednesday, Wah was approached by a man who lured her into his home and held her there for several minutes before the woman escaped.

Wah, who has lived, without incident, in Toronto's Bathrust/College area for close to 25 years, currently resides on Brunswick Avenue with her daughter Lily and grandson Jason. Her family joined us, to lend support, and translate her harrowing story from Cantonese, in hopes of gathering more information from our readers.

"My mother says she had just done the shopping... in Chinatown... and she was heading north from College Street."

"I usually go with her on weekends, but we were out of her Pepsi." Her grandson added. "I told her I would get some from the corner store after school... but she likes getting everything at once."

"She was wearing a pink wool hat and a grey 3/4 length coat and was pulling a small shopping cart, filled with groceries. This man came up to her... he was smiling... but he was holding a rolled up newspaper. He kept talking to her in English and waving the paper at some bins in front of the house... Recycling bins."

When asked what the man was saying to her, Wah shook her head.

"She says he just kept talking at her for a while and pointing at the recycling... and the door of his house. After some time he started making crazy motions with his hand... like he was drinking something... she thought then that maybe the man was drunk. My mother was nodding... and smiling... and trying to leave... but the man took her arm and led her to his door. She was worried that if he was insane he might hit her with the newspaper... and there was a lot of ice on the ground."

Once inside the home, the man took her into his kitchen and guided her towards several cases of empty beer bottles.

"He kept saying 'You take. You take. For you!' over and over. He was smiling. At first she thought he was offering her a drink... but she saw no Pepsi... only the beer bottles... . She was scared. She thought maybe he was being boastful about how much he had drank that day. Then when my mother went to leave the man started putting beer bottles in her groceries... spilling the old beer on them... being crazy. She hit him on the head with a can of stewed tomatoes and ran home."

Although Grace was unharmed during the abduction, she is noticeably shaken up and the groceries have yet to be found. The family say they have been discouraged by the lack-luster investigation on the part of the police.

When contacted about the incident, Officer Dan York claimed that he had done everything in his power to help the Wahs but there was a strong lack of information for the Toronto Police to work with.

"She doesn't remember the exact location of the house, and can't give us a detailed description of the man whom she spoke with that afternoon."

When pressed by our reporters for a further description of her alleged attacker, Grace became noticeably agitated and began shouting at us in Cantonese.

"My mother says he had a housecoat... .he was... .um... similar to you."

While Grace continued to repeat a particular phrase over and over, Lily and Jason Wah exchanged glances.

"She says... well... she says he was... a white guy."

The Wahs have had no luck in gathering further information from their neighbours either.

"We've gone door to door, but we've had a hard time convincing people that we are not from some church group." Says an exasperated Jason Wah. "And one time, as we were heading up the path to a house, a woman came out, put a bag of beer cans on her front step, smiled at my grandmother and went back inside. I hate this neighbourhood. I'm moving to Markham."

If you have any information that might be beneficial to this case, please contact our tip line at ex.34621.