TORONTO — Shock and disbelief gripped residents of one of Canada’s wealthiest neighbourhoods on Thursday as Toronto police revealed that the remains of a young girl had been discovered in a construction dumpster outside a home in the area.
Investigators said they haven’t been able to determine the girl’s cause of death, nor do they know just when she might have died, but they think her remains were placed in the dumpster sometime between last Thursday and Monday.
As police asked the public for help identifying the child, those who lived in the ritzy Rosedale neighbourhood, located north of the city’s downtown, said they were processing news of the discovery.
“It’s kind of crazy to think about, that that would happen,” said Mikkel Shiffman, who has lived in the house across the street from the discovery with his parents since he was four.
“It makes you feel that stuff like this happens a lot closer than you think.”
Officers responded to a call about remains found in a construction-disposal dumpster on Monday afternoon. The property where the remains were found is unoccupied and under construction, police said.
An autopsy completed on Wednesday identified the remains as those of a girl between the age of four and seven, investigators said. The girl may have died as early as the summer of 2021 or even before then, police said.
“Our first priority is to figure out who this little girl is,” Insp. Hank Idsinga told reporters. “We will get to the bottom of it no matter what it takes.”
On Thursday afternoon, yellow police tape could be seen stretched across the driveway of the home where the construction dumpster had stood. A police car was parked near the home, on a residential street.
At the end of a stone path beside the home’s driveway, a pot of pink flowers had been placed with a card that read “little one, we pray heaven has dried your tears.”
Steven Koshchuk, who lives around the corner from where the incident took place, said the news was jarring.
“I was extraordinarily shocked, not because of the neighbourhood or the demographics or whatever, just that someone would abuse and mistreat a child in that way and abandon them,” he said.
Terry Kirk, who has lived in the neighbourhood for about nine years, said it was difficult to think of “the circumstances around a child being treated that way.”
“It’s not something that’s part of everyday life that’s for sure,” she said.
Police said the remains of the girl had been found wrapped in a crochet blanket inside a plastic bag, and that bag was wrapped in a colourful blanket. Police shared images of both blankets in the hopes that someone will recognize them and help identify the child.
Jason Conover, who lives around the corner from where the remains were found, said he felt for whoever made the discovery.
“To find a child abandoned must have been awful for the person who did,” he said.
The girl was described as Black, of African or mixed African descent, and three feet, six inches tall with a thin build. Police said her hair was sectioned in four short ponytails, two of which were braided and secured with black and blue elastic bands.
“Kids don’t just die,” Idsinga, of Toronto police, said. “If anyone has any information whatsoever, please call us immediately.”
The Toronto police missing person’s unit and the homicide squad were working closely together on the case, police said. While some missing persons reports had come close to matching the profile of the girl whose remains were found, none were so far a definite match, Idsinga said.
Police would be looking at a charge of indignity to human remains in relation to the case but that could change rapidly as more information emerges, Idsinga said.
“We are investigating this death at its highest level,” he said. “We have the investigative assets in place to deal with wherever the evidence takes us.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2022.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
