Fareeha El Mahoud

Fareeha El Mahoud (13 May 1994 - 19 January 2012) was a Palestinian-Canadian former competitive figure skater. She was a two-time Worlds champion (2010, 2012), three-time Grand Prix champion (2010-2012) and four-time Candian Nationals champion (2007-2010), and was a medalist in several junior Canadian championships. Her disappearance and presumed death in Calgary's Moose Mountain trails has been the subject of several documentaries, including an upcoming Netlfix feature directed by...

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Early Life and Career

El Mahoud grew up in the suburbs of Calgary, a child of Palestinian refugees, her mother a nurse, and her father a plane mechanic. As a child, she was fascinated by figure skating and eventually honed her skills enough to start performing in junior competitions at the age of twelve. During her first competition, she won gold, which won over her skeptical parents, and drove her to seek more and more competitions.  At 16, she was one of the top female prospective skaters in Canada, moving to Toronto to be coached professionally. 

While training there, she met a talented skater from Japan, Isamu Kawaguchi, and a Belgian skater, Aleks Laurent. and the three reportedly became close friends. According to the trio's coach, they would...

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Death

On January 19th, 2012, at around 8 PM in the evening, El Mahoud snuck out of her family home to hike the popular Moose Mountain trails alone, with allegedly only her cell phone with her. Her mother claims that the trails "had a deep spiritual meaning to her", and she had hiked them since she was young, so she was not concerned initially. However, that night was different. For whatever reason, Fareeha struggled with the trail, leading to her slipping and falling off of a cliffside.

Lying broken, bloodied on the snow, the human Fareeha El Mahoud died.

Weeks after Fareeha's disappearance, the houseless around Calgary would speak of a strange, bird-like demon with a dog-like porcelain mask who, despite its imposing appearance, was gracious and spoke gently, like a young woman. These strange stories of a demon seemingly stuck in one form would spread throughout the years, in cities across the Trans-Canada Highway, from Medicine Hat to Regina, Winnipeg, and Thunder Bay. The stories varied, from the demon simply walking up to a witness and asking for directions, to stories of others being saved from attackers or muggers by the bird demon. How no matter what the attacker did to it, the demon seemed invincible, and afterward helped the witness back to their feet. 

Even though these stories differ and vary, what binds them all together is what the demon allegedly would say when asked about their destination.

"I'm going to Toronto to remember who I am."