Homicide team investigating Langley mother Naomi Onotera’s disappearance

LANGLEY (NEWS 1130) – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says it’s been called in to help in the case of missing Langley woman Naomi Onotera.

This comes after investigators were seen at the 40-year-old’s home in the area of 200 Street and 50 Avenue. Officers began their search on Monday, and remained at the house into Wednesday.

BREAKING NEWS: ⁦@HomicideTeam⁩ is now involved in the case of the missing mom from #Langleybc. Naomi Onotera has been missing for more than 2 weeks. Her home has been behind police tape since Monday night. ⁦@NEWS1130⁩ pic.twitter.com/4gpeT02OIo

— Dean Recksiedler (@RecksiedlerDean) September 15, 2021

“I would caution that the presence of officers, security and crime scene tape is not an indication of criminality of anyone living in the residence. They are present to secure the preservation of evidence,” said IHIT Sgt. David Lee. “IHIT would like to ask for patience as this investigation continues. The family has also asked for privacy.”

Onotera, a teacher-librarian, was last seen by her husband more than two weeks ago. Her mother contacted police.

(Courtesy Langley RCMP)

She has an 18-month daughter and works at Surrey’s Katzie Elementary School. Her sister recently said the mother was looking forward to going back to work.

Onotera’s disappearance has sparked community-wide concern. Police have appealed for security or dashcam footage captured between 6 p.m. on Aug. 28 and 7 a.m. on Aug. 29.

“We understand people will want to know what happened to Naomi — and as do we. So we’re asking for patience right now as we continue the investigation. We don’t believe there’s a further risk to the public right now. We’re still just looking for it is a missing person investigation at this stage,” Lee added.

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She is described as 5’9″ tall, weighs 150 lbs, has long brown hair and brown eyes.

Onotera reportedly left without her home without her car, but investigators shared images of her vehicle in an attempt to piece together a timeline of her actions beginning on Aug. 25.

The vehicle is described as a white 2018 Subaru Crosstrek with a “Greater Vancouver Zoo” sticker in the front window on the passenger side.

Langley RCMP have shared images of Naomi Onodera’s car, in the hopes it will help investigators piece together a timeline leading up to her Aug. 28, 2021 disappearance. (Left image submitted to NEWS 1130, right image courtesy Langley RCMP)

IHIT says it’s working closely with the Langley RCMP and that further details would be provided when they become available.

“IHIT has been searching since this morning and the search can continue for several hours. And from there on, we will be able to provide more information as it becomes available,” Lee said.

Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to contact IHIT at 1.877.551.IHIT (4448) or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct Onotera’s age.

– With files from Sonia Aslam

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