Hong Kong  - The boyfriend of a Canadian woman missing in Hong Kong was Wednesday expected back home after a five-day visit to the former British colony to help the search for her.

Wenddell Walsh told reporters before flying back to Toronto he believed it was "just a matter of time" before 30-year-old Canadian Indian Ani Ashekian was found.

Ashekian, also from Toronto, arrived in Hong Kong on November 9 and stayed in the city's Tsim Sha Tsui district, withdrawing money and sending her sister in Canada a text message the following day.

She planned to travel to India before returning to Toronto on December 15 but has not been heard from since November 10 and has not left Hong Kong, according to immigration records.

Police have issued an appeal for anyone who has seen her to contact them and Walsh spent five days distributing pictures and leaflets to help the police search.

Walsh told Wednesday's South China Morning Post newspaper: "I feel really confident, with what the police are doing and with the amount of volunteers that are out there every day, that she will be found."

He said he would have preferred to stay in Hong Kong until she was found but said: "It's just not feasible for me."

A message from Ashekian's family posted on the social networking website Facebook describes her as a "bright, adventurous and vibrant young woman who has a passion for travel."

Ashekian arrived in Hong Kong after flying to Beijing in October with two work colleagues from the legal firm where she worked but left them behind in the Chinese capital. (dpa)