Niagara Regional Police say they're searching a Grimsby, Ont., house in the investigation of a woman's disappearance more than one-and-a-half years ago.

Shana Carter, 25, was last seen leaving her Grimsby home in December 2010. She is a former Halifax West student who had been living in the Hamilton area for the past few years, prior to her disappearance.

Police said investigators are executing a search warrant at a Grimsby house, located at 4 Arrowhead Lane, and expect to be there for an undetermined amount of time.

Police have said foul play is suspected in Carter's disappearance. Anyone with information is asked to contact Niagara Regional Police.

Carter's mother previously said the disappearance is very out of character for Shana, who has a young son.

"I had talked to her about a week before she disappeared," said Elizabeth Carter, when she spoke to CBC News shortly after Shana disappeared. "She was looking for some ideas for Christmas crafts to make with her son, things that we used to make when she was little and she wanted to, because just starting out she didn't have a whole lot of stuff and she wanted him to make some memories for the Christmas tree."

Carter acknowledged Shana had a troubled youth.

The former Halifax native was in a group home briefly at age 14, eventually dropping out of high school and moving to the Hamilton area with a former boyfriend.

She started working in strip clubs, but Carter said Shana had a son three years before her disappearance and was turning her life around.

"She had talked about going back to school and finishing her high school, getting a GED and all that. She had been making plans for a better future."

With files from the Canadian Press