Isabella Dan, who was 53 years old, hasn’t been seen or heard from in a while
Police are trying to figure out what happened to a lawyer from the Toronto area after he left behind lawsuits worth millions of dollars, a luxury SUV that was left behind, and a sudden lack of communication.
Isabella Dan, who owns a law office in Markham, Ontario, and is 53 years old, hasn’t been seen in almost three weeks. Her friends and the police are worried about where she is.
Police have called the way Dan went missing “suspicious,” and they have now given the case to the Homicide and Missing Person Unit of York Regional Police, CBC Toronto has learned.
“Some information has come to the attention of the investigators that makes them think this case is unusual and out of the ordinary,” Const. Maniva Amrstrong of the York Regional Police told CBC Toronto.
“And there is worry that there may have been some kind of wrongdoing,” she said. Investigators wouldn’t give any more information.
As the search for Dan goes on, CBC Toronto has looked at financial and court documents that are available to the public. These documents seem to shed some light on Dan’s life in the months before she disappeared.
At the same time, police are asking for help from the public again. They think that some people who knew Dan have not yet come forward.
SUV was found in front of a Markham cond
Dan was last seen on March 3 at a condo building near Highway 7 and Warden Avenue in Markham. The address was Water Walk Drive and Verclaire Gate. A few high-rise condos are already there, but there is a lot of building going on in the area.
Police think Dan lived in the building, but they don’t know if she was last seen inside or outside.
Investigators have also not said where they think Dan was going that night. All they have said is that she was wearing a beige coat with a fur collar and black pants, and she was carrying a red gym bag.
Armstrong said, “We know from our investigation that she was an active member at a LA Fitness Gym Club that is also close to the house.”
The gym is about 3 km from her condo, which is where she was last seen. Armstrong also said that investigators are asking anyone who knew her at the gym to get in touch.
Armstrong says that Dan’s coworkers reported her missing when she didn’t show up for work or meetings.
“That strange behavior caused a lot of worry among the other employees,” she said.
CBC Toronto called Dan’s law office and sent her an email. They also tried to get in touch with some of her staff. There was no response.
Police told CBC Toronto that a grey Land Rover that Dan owned was found near the Markham condo, but it wasn’t in the underground garage of her building. Instead, it was outside on the street.
Lien records show that Dan leased the $95,000 car for four years last summer. As part of their investigation, it’s not clear what, if anything, the police were able to get from the car.
‘It’s very concerning
Others who knew Dan are also worried about her disappearance. One of Dan’s friends, who CBC Toronto agreed to only call by her first name, Julie, is also worried.
Julie says she met Dan in 2017 when she was working as a real estate lawyer, and that they became friends over time.
“She is very active. She is very friendly and a big deal in life. I don’t think she would just disappear or pack up her things and leave “said Julie.
She said that the last time she saw Dan was in the fall. “She looked like she was very happy and healthy.”
Julie told Toronto’s CBC that Dan’s parents live in China, and Dan’s sister says she doesn’t know of any other families who live here. Dan is also single and doesn’t have any kids, she said.
Julie says that as time goes on, she worries more and more about her friend’s health.
“It’s very worrying that she hasn’t been seen in more than two weeks, as her friend… I just care a lot about her,” Julie said.
“I think that people who are close to her should be looked into.”
At the time of his disappearance, he was facing several lawsuits
Isabella Dan doesn’t seem to own any property in the condo complex where she was last seen, according to public land registry records.
The records do show that Dan sold a home she owned in North York for $2.75 million in August 2022.
Dan is also listed as the owner of another North York home that she bought for $1.06 million in September 2020. A second mortgage for $600,000 was put on the property a year later. It looks like a private lender is in charge of the second mortgage.
The home has a total of $1.448M in mortgages, according to the property records.
The home has also been rented out, according to the property records.
Dan was in a lot of civil court cases at the time she went missing.
She is named in four cases that are still going on in Ontario’s Superior Court. These cases involve alleged fraudulent mortgages on homes in the Greater Toronto Area. The most recent was in December 2022.
“My client’s lawsuits do not say that Dan helped, started, or benefited from the alleged fraud,” said Glenn Cohen, the lawyer for the plaintiff in two of the lawsuits against Dan.
“They say that the lawyer was careless and broke the contract because she didn’t follow the terms of the mortgage commitment, especially when it came to title insurance, and she didn’t tell the client about certain parts of the transactions.”
Courts have not found proof of any of the claims.
Dan’s lawyers have filed statements of defense in which she denies the accusations. The most recent of these statements was filed in October 2022.
Her lawyers told CBC Toronto that they couldn’t say anything about the ongoing case because it was in court.
York Regional Police are asking anyone who knows anything about Dan’s disappearance to get in touch.
Armstrong said, “We do think that more people in our community know more about her.”