Little Britain area death a homicide, OPP say

The death of a 35-year-old women in a house fire early Tuesday morning south of Little Britain was a homicide, investigators said Thursday.

Heeley Rae Balanga, 35, died after the fire in a house on Aino Beach Road, about 60 kilometres west of Peterboroughin the former Mariposa Township. An autopsy was conducted Wednesday at the Office of the Chief Coroner and Ontario Forensic Pathology Service in Toronto to identify the woman, City of Kawartha Lakes OPP said.

As a result of the autopsy, police are now treating her death as a homicide.

Investigators are currently in the process of piecing together the victim’s last days leading up to her death, police said.

Det. Insp. Paul Rosato of the OPP criminal investigation branch is leading the investigation being conducted by detectives from the City of Kawartha Lakes OPP crime unit, the OPP forensic identification services and the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshall.

Police have not said if they have a suspect in the killing.

Emergency responders were called to the Washburn Islandarea house, south of Little Britain, in the former Mariposa Township at about 5:09 a.m. Police cordoned off the scene as well as a black vehicle nearby. A neighbour reported seeing what appeared to be a dead body on the lawn of the house.