Toronto Police have located a 47-year-old man with a long history of walking out of mental-health facilities, who had been missing for over a month. Tesfaye Asefa, described by authorities as potentially dangerous, was tracked down on Thursday, May 14, 2026, after he went missing on April 2 from the area of Queen Street West and Ossington Avenue, where the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is situated.
Eighth escape in eight years
Police confirmed that this incident marks at least the eighth time Asefa has absconded from the mental-health facility in as many years. In a news release, the Toronto Police Service expressed gratitude to the public for their assistance in locating him.
Asefa was found not criminally responsible for two sexual assaults in 2011. As a result, he is bound by a Form 49 warrant of committal, issued by the Ontario Review Board, which commits him to the custody of a provincial psychiatric hospital and requires him to adhere to specific conditions.
History of escapes
Court records reveal a pattern of similar incidents. Asefa first disappeared from CAMH in August 2018, followed by further escapes in May 2019 and January 2020, the latter of which ended with him being located two weeks later. He went missing again in June 2020 and January 2023 before being returned to the facility. In July 2025, police reported that Asefa allegedly left the hospital and was last seen near Danforth and Jones Avenues, marking what was then his seventh escape.
The latest escape, which lasted over a month, ended when police successfully tracked him down. Authorities have not disclosed the circumstances of his capture or his current whereabouts.
