Podcast digs into the mystery of Nuseiba Hasan, who wasn't reported missing for 9 years

For Habiba Nosheen, the mystery started with a cryptic email.

As an investigative journalist, Nosheen is no stranger to receiving tips, but something about the short message from an anonymous woman grabbed her attention.

It suggested she look into the story of Nuseiba Hasan, a Jordanian-Canadian woman whose disappearance Hamilton police started investigating in 2016.

But this was no ordinary missing person. Nosheen soon learned that the 26-year-old had actually disappeared in 2006, yet nearly a decade had passed before anyone reported she was gone.

"The thing that immediately stands out to you is that nobody reported her missing for nine years," she told CBC's Matt Galloway, host of The Current.

"That's just strange. She had a life. She was going to school. How does that happen? That question just bugged me so much."

Nosheen, with a small team of researchers and audio experts, spent the next three years investigating what happened to Hasan. Now she's sharing what they learned in a new eight-part podcast series called The Disappearance of Nuseiba Hasan.

Hamilton police announced they were searching for Hasan in 2016.

There was reason to believe she "met with foul play," investigators said at the time, adding someone from her family had told police she was missing in 2015.

She was last seen at a property the family owned in rural Flamborough, a property police scanned with the help of OPP cadaver dogs, mounted officers and a forensic anthropologist. The search came up empty.

"Hamilton police continue to aggressively pursue each and every lead until the truth of Nuseiba's death is revealed, her remains are located, and those responsible are held accountable for their actions," Const. Krista-Lee Ernst of Hamilton Police Service said in an email Friday.

Nosheen said the initial, "cryptic" email from the tipster mentioned she had to remain anonymous because she feared for her safety.

"That's a pretty intense email to get," the journalist noted.

"There was also something about how fearful this person seemed that was intriguing. She wants to alert you, but she's terrified."