WARMINGTON: Cops' frantic rescue of Esther stemmed from neighourhood canvas for video
· Toronto Sun
The miracle of finding Esther alive came about thanks to some good, old-fashioned, gumshoe, boots-on-the-ground policing.
What transpired on a Rexdale Street at 1 p.m. on Thursday will be talked about for years to come. It looked like something out of a movie about a missing girl in which police were the heroes who found her.
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But this was real.
And yes, in finding 14-year-old Esther, heroes are exactly what Toronto Police are.
Supt. Don Belanger from Toronto Police said Esther has been found safe but taken to hospital to determine toll her “prolonged disappearance” has had on her physically:emotionally. Also investigating if there is any “criminality” surrounding her being found in an Etobicoke home pic.twitter.com/iNQ0iQOIOI
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) May 28, 2026
Sighting at a Walmart led to Esther’s rescue
It all started on a tip from Wednesday night that the girl was spotted at a Walmart at the corner of Rexdale Blvd. and Islington Ave. She was then believed to have walked into a residential neighbhourhood nearby.
Police had seen her on a security cameras but did not know where she was.
Now, believing she was alive, they worked hard to try to track her down. She had been seen on the TTC system. But this was their newest lead.
“They went up and down the street to check to see if neighbours had security video,” said a resident near where she was located.
One neighbour said it was when they were conversing with a neighbour who had a camera that everything changed.
“They were all running there toward the house,” said the neighbour, adding there was at least “six officers and five police cars.”
Within seconds, “they brought out a white man of about 30 and put him in a police car,” said the witness.
Then, out came Esther.
“She was wearing a black hoodie and a jacket and seemed to be walking fine,” the neighbour said. “They put her in a police car as well and then left.”
And just like that there was a miracle. The girl that not just police but also Toronto’s Jewish community had been searching for since she disappeared around Earl Bales Park May 15 was found safely.
This was a relief to so many people who took posters from Shomrim Toronto and posted them all over the city – it all helped.
In the end, it was some determined, dogged police work that led to tracking her down. From their door knocking and canvasing the streets near the Walmart, “police were able to figure it out.”
An there was something they saw at a house across the street that had them sprint to this house.
The small 1960s-era, bungalow has a main owner named Devon who lives on the main floor. He told the Toronto Sun he has a tenant who works in construction, who he knows as Duffy, living in the basement apartment.
The owner of this Rexdale home said he didn’t know Esther had been in basement apartment of his tenant who uses a side door. Saying he was at work, he said he was not home when police rescued the 14-year-old earlier in the day. The tenant is said to still be at a police division pic.twitter.com/lNQsdbFSGV
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) May 29, 2026
But Devon said he didn’t see Esther there and didn’t even realize police were there Thursday afternoon when the located her and subsequently took her to hospital.
“I was at work,” he said, adding his tenant has been in the apartment for three years, has been no problem and always pay his rent.
He was at a Toronto Police division into Thursday night as police investigate the potential of criminality in this case. At this point, they have not indicated if they have laid any charges.
This is an active investigation in which time will tell if there was an explanation as to why Esther was at this house and whether people knew this was her.
More questions than answers
There are more questions than answers that police are working to sort out. But what is known is that Esther is now no longer missing, she is getting medical and emotional support, and the efforts of so many helped to locate her.
“Like everyone I was relieved to hear that Esther had been found,” Toronto Police Association President Clayton Campbell said.
“I’m so proud of our members who have worked tirelessly around the clock,“ he said. “From our frontline to our investigative experts to our specialized search professionals – no one ever gave up.”
Campbell and Supt. Don Belanger also made the important point that there was so much support from so many that helped lead this happy outcome.
“They couldn’t have done this without the community input and support and we are grateful,” said Campbell.
It’s true.
But we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge this amazing effort by a group of cops who followed a tip and found this girl inside a home based on their diligence.
There needs to be awards for these officers who did old-fashion policing by following a trail and locating her inside a home in which there was one a man living upstairs and another man living downstairs.