Dana Zelic, 26, was last seen in the early morning hours of August 30, 1999, at her mother’s east-end Hamilton apartment. Her mother checked on her at 2:30 a.m. and found her sleeping; by later that morning Dana was gone. Her identification, money, clothing and essential medication were left behind, suggesting an unplanned departure.

Dana had been staying with her mother for about a week after a breakup. Friends and family said she had been losing weight and not sleeping well. She grew up in the area, graduated from Delta Secondary School, enjoyed drama and books, and had been enrolled in a tourism program while planning to move into her own apartment. She sometimes used the names Donna, Frankie and Alex.

Over the years several possible leads surfaced but produced no answers: a photograph in the Hamilton Spectator from September 17, 1999, once believed to show her was later ruled out in 2020 when the women in the image identified themselves; a phone call in August 2000 to a male friend claiming she was in Mississauga; and an unconfirmed 2002 sighting at a Chapters bookstore. Dana is described as white, 5 feet 6 inches, about 100 pounds, with dark brown collar-length hair, brown eyes and a nickel-sized beauty mark on the left side of her throat. Does anyone who knew Dana or saw her around late August 1999 have information that could help fill the gaps?