Scammer uses AI image of missing woman in attempt to extort money from sister

A Calgary woman is desperate for answers and more search efforts in hopes of finding her missing special needs sister who disappeared without a trace six months ago.

Shelby Erickson says her younger sister, 32-year-old Deeanna Erickson, hasn’t been seen since around 11 p.m. on the evening of June 6, 2025.

“It’s been like a nightmare,” Shelby said.

“I am so lost, but I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Shelby was out of town when her sister went missing. She got a call from Deeanna’s landlord saying she never came home and asked if the sisters had been in touch.

“I said no, and then I called the non-emergency line right away and reported her missing because it was not like her.

“She usually calls me every single day — multiple times a day.”

Shelby believes her sister was on her way home to Copperfield when she got off the C-train at the Somerset–Bridlewood Station in Shawnessy.

“She met an unhoused lady on the train,” Shelby said. “They ended up meeting up with a group of people. We don’t know what happened in that time, but then there was more footage of Deeanna asking a bus driver how long her bus would be.

“The bus driver said it would only be about 15 minutes and for unknown reason she got on the wrong bus.”

Shelby says instead of her sister getting on a bus she’s often taken, Deeanna got on the Route 167 bus to the community of Walden, heading 11 kilometres in the wrong direction.

She got off near a Shoppers Drug Mart and hasn’t been seen since.

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Shelby said her sister is a vulnerable person with a developmental disability who relies on supports like AISH, takes regular medications and has a public guardian.

Deeanna was born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), a neurodevelopmental disability, and is very trusting — but Shelby said her sister is also independent and took the bus often.

“Deeanna was very capable. This is why it’s so concerning — I’m not sure why she would get on that bus. She’s never went to Walden before or knows anyone there.”

Shelby says she’s burning the candle at both ends, doing everything she can to find her missing sister; whether its putting up posters, reaching out to community and search groups, as well as working with police.

“I’ve been trying to get so much help and reach out to so many different people but everywhere I go nothing changes. I’m very thankful for the detectives in the investigation and where we have so far, but I just feel that we need more efforts done and more search efforts we need more  possibilities looked at,” Shelby said.

This includes one of Shelby’s theories, in which she believes her sister tried to get a ride home that night.

Amid her earnest efforts came a disturbing twist from a scammer.

On Dec. 23, Shelby received a message on Facebook from someone trying to extort money, using her sister as collateral.

“He was like, I have your sister, if you don’t put this $10,000 into this bitcoin address then you won’t see your sister again. Don’t go to the police.”

The scammer also sent a convincing AI-generated photo of what looked to be Deeanna tied up in a van.

“I thought it was real. I posted it later on that day when I found out it was fake,” she said.

“So many people are like, ‘Oh you can tell that is AI,’ but I said, ‘Well when you’re in this situation and you’ve had countless sleepless night and your head is not in the right space — you go to the worst case scenario.’”

The use of artificial intelligence in cases of extortion such as the grandparents and sex scams is rising, said Detective Leonard VanWoudenberg with the Calgary Police Service, adding he doesn’t see it going away any time soon.

“If there’s a family member of a victim who’s missing, there’s a good chance that they’re going to be contacted by some looking to take advantage of the situation who is going to pretend that they have the missing person or have information about where the missing person is located,” VanWoudenberg said.

Calgary Police said between Jan. 1, 2025 and Dec. 1, 2025,  there were 4,301 missing person reports made and 16 of those are still active missing persons cases — including Deeanna.

Deeanna was last seen carrying a backpack, wearing a light blue sweater, tan pants, and black running shoes with a purple sweater around her waist.

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