BUSINESSWOMAN Shafia Hassan said there was nothing unusual about her friend and colleague Yuri Shipulin when she met him last Wednesday.
Ms Hassan is believed to be the last person to have seen the Russian before he and his partner Natalia were reported missing last week.
A farmer and part-time photographer, Mr Shipulin sometimes worked for Ms Hassan’s company, Glitz and Cutz.
“We met on Monday in Nadi at my shop and I passed him a SD card to edit my photos. He informed me that it would take him a day to do the editing,” she said.
“He called me on Tuesday to pick up the SD card. I told him that I would be able to meet him after 5pm. We met around 6.10pm and he gave me the card, telling me about fixing my camera as well.
“He was supposed to meet me on Wednesday at my salon in Skylodge so we met there and he never said anything about going down to Suva or anything else. He was good, he was smiling and he was joking as usual.
“We were going to do a wedding in Suva this week and he was excited because he was the photographer. He looked forward to every photo shoot we had booked together. Even for my billboards, he was going to do the photography.
“He was supposed to meet me at the salon the next day (Thursday) but he never showed. I did not call him because I thought he was busy at work.”
She said she tried calling him later to ask about her camera but several calls went unanswered.
“Knowing Yuri, he always calls me back within 10 minutes time and the maximum would be 30 minutes. On Friday, my customer from Suva called to ask about all the arrangement and he asked about the photographer. This was when I started calling again and I needed to confirm all details for the job. I called him a couple of times and then I called Alla Mallerich, a mutual friend. Then later on, we were informed they were missing.”
Ms Hassan said they had worked together for the past three months. She described Mr Shipulin as a great friend and a hardworking individual.
Yesterday, police spokesman Inspector Josaia Weicavu said they were still looking for the missing couple.
“We are requesting members of the public with any information to call Crime Stoppers on 919.”
