When Mariam Makhniashvili disappeared more than two years ago, Toronto police launched the largest missing person search in the city's history.
They scoured the area where she lived with her family, deployed an OPP helicopter in the search, interviewed every student at her school and followed up on nearly 500 tips and possible sightings.
But they missed a spot in a ravine under Highway 401 near Yonge Street, where they now believe Makhniashvili's body lay for a long time.
The teen's remains were found on the grounds of a golf course under a bridge last week. She likely died after a "fall from a significant height," police said Friday, adding that the findings of the post-mortem exam are not consistent with a homicide or suspicious death.
"Our search grid came close to that area but did not include that specific area," Staff Insp. Greg McLane said of the grisly discovery at a news conference.
"In my experience in 36 years it's not unusual for remains to be in a particular location for long periods of time before they're discovered."
McLane said forensic tests show Makhniashvili was likely alive at time of the fall. He said they do not show whether she died the day of her disappearance or some time later, although last week police said they believed the remains were two to three years old.
Makhniashvili disappeared Sept. 14, 2009, sparking an international investigation and several rumours of sightings.
Originally from the Republic of Georgia, she had only been living in Toronto for three months, joining her parents after five years of living apart. Det. Sgt. Dan Nealon said her family painted a picture of a content, happy girl, but said it's possible she felt isolated and depressed as she adapted to a new country and culture. During Friday's news conference, Nealon described her as a "bookworm" and an "introvert."
The only clue Makhniashvili left behind was her backpack and books, found in an alley near her school -- Forest Hill Collegiate -- the following month.
The school is near Bathurst Street and Eglinton Avenue West, about six kilometres southwest of the Don Valley Golf Course, where the remains were found. Located in a ravine under Highway 401 near Yonge Street, they were eerily close to the high-rise building where the Makhniashvili family lives.
Makhniashvili's body was eventually discovered by two men who were walking in the wooded area, near the south side of an eastbound Highway 401 off-ramp. It was beside an overpass, and was so decomposed that police could not immediately identify its age or sex.
However, CP24 sources said the jean jacket the girl was wearing when she went missing was found at the scene, immediately tipping them off as to whose body they had likely discovered.
Lela Tabidze, Makhniashvili's mother, said police told her about the human remains they had discovered on March 1; a gesture police described as a courtesy to the family. Tabidze says they warned her that she "might get some news," and encouraged her "not to get too upset, and wait for the results" of the tests.
Investigators were also seen at Tabidze's home on Friday morning. They later reported she was distraught and requested privacy as she dealt with the confirmation of her daughter's death.
Makhniashvili also leaves behind her brother Giorgi and her father Vakhtang, who is currently serving a six-year prison sentence for three stabbings. In 2010, the year after his daughter went missing, he stabbed a neighbour he accused of being involved in her disappearance, and later stabbed both members of a couple that had posted bail for him after the first incident.
Giorgi also made the news in late 2010, after being reported missing by his parents but showing up at a Vaughan, Ont. police station about 10 hours later. The next day, his father told reporters his son had run away over a dispute about his future; his parents wanted him to pursue mathematics while he wanted to be a musician.
"It was quite a hell," Vakhtang told reporters outside the family's apartment at the time. "Our first thoughts were about abduction and other such possibilities.
"My wife almost lost consciousness … It was almost more difficult than before."
Police said Friday that it would be up to corrections officials to let Vakhtang know about his daughter's death.
