A Perth backpacker who vanished from a Canadian ski town was ‘upset about an issue at work’ the day before she disappeared, a friend has revealed.
Alison Raspa, 25, who was holidaying and working in Canada, was last seen on November 22, when she left a bar in Whistler, north of Vancouver about 11.30pm.
A friend of her mother, who asked not to be named said ‘something happened at work,’ the day before she went missing.
Perth woman Alison Raspa, 25, was last seen on November 22, leaving a bar in Whistler, north of Vancouver on Canada’s west coast, about 11.30pm
‘Police are looking through the camera footage where Alison works so they can observe her on a day-to-day basis in the days before she disappeared,’ the friend told The Daily Telegraph.
‘Alison’s mother has been told that she was upset about something to do with work so police are looking for clues on the (CCTV) tapes.’
The Perth woman’s phone was found in a small lakeside park, some five kilometres away, about 6.30am the following day.
On Friday, Staff Sergeant Paul Hayes, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Whistler, confirmed to AAP that Raspa’s family had arrived from Perth.
The search for Raspa was ongoing on Friday, with fire department crews out on a lake near where Raspa’s phone was found.
An earlier lake search by divers, and ground searches by police and search and rescue teams, failed to find further clues as to her whereabouts.
Alison is described as caucasian, with long brown hair and blue eyes
She was last seen leaving the Three Below Bar on Blackcomb Way at 11.30pm on November 22
A helicopter had been used in the search but poor weather, including overnight snow, was preventing its use on Friday, Hayes said.
Police are also continuing to inspect Raspa’s phone for clues, he said.
Raspa’s friends also launched their own search on Friday morning, walking from Whistler’s gondolas near Three Below, the bar where she was last seen, to Alpha Lake in Creekside, where her phone was discovered. The walk takes about an hour.
Canadian police found Alison’s mobile phone at the near-frozen Alpha Lake park at 6.30am the day after she went missing
Police do not believe Raspa walked the distance because of the late hour and the cold, with temperatures in Whistler dropping to 0C throughout the past week.
Hayes would not confirm if a driver was being sought.
He said police ‘had some thoughts’ as to how Raspa got to Creekside, but they were yet to confirm whether those were correct.
Hayes earlier told AAP there was no indication of foul play but added police ‘have not ruled out any option in terms of what has happened or where Ms Raspa could be.’