Murder probe at Kettle and Stony Point

The provincial police’s announcement they’re investigating a homicide after human remains were found at Kettle and Stony Point First Nation has rocked the community and residents are jumping to conclusions as to who the victim might be, its chief says.

A body was discovered by police around 1:15 p.m. Sunday and a post-mortem examination the following day determined the person died as a result of a homicide, the Lambton OPP said Tuesday.

“Nobody’s ever prepared for a sudden death like this, and a homicide in particular is very traumatic for the community,” Kettle and Stony Point First Nation Chief Jason Henry said. “We’re a fairly small community where most people are related and certainly everybody knows one another, so the community is hit very hard by this.”

Investigators, though, were still working to confirm the victim’s identity, police said. Const. Jamie Stanley, an OPP spokesperson, said Tuesday there is no timeline on how long that will take.

The Lambton OPP, the west region emergency response team and the canine unit helped Anishinabek police with Saturday’s search at the First Nation, about 25 kilometres west of Grand Bend.

One day earlier, Anishinabek police issued a missing-person report. David Oliver was last seen around 3 a.m. Friday, police said.

In a brief update Sunday, Anishinabek police said a 29-yearold man who went missing was found, but no additional details were available.

Henry said “that’s the conclusion that people are jumping to” but added there have been “too many missteps” made by people inside and outside the community.

Flags at the First Nation were lowered to half-mast.

Murray Bressette, a sergeant with the Anishinabek police department in Kettle and Stony Point, said Tuesday he can’t comment on the investigation because it’s being led by the OPP.

Stanley said he couldn’t comment on the state of the body or if police believe weapons were involved in the death.

“All we can say is the cause of death has been ruled to be a homicide,” he said.

Stanley said he wasn’t aware of any suspects as of Tuesday. The investigation, led by the OPP’S criminal investigation branch, is ongoing and further updates will be provided as they become available, police said.

A building was burned down at the First Nation in late June during a confrontation centered around pot shops.

Kettle and Stony Point members were recorded in a video posted on social media calling the cannabis store operators “invaders” and saying they had no right to the land. The stores were accused of being illegal.

Stanley said he had “no knowledge” if the homicide investigation had any connection to the incident.

Anyone with information about the homicide investigation is asked to call Lambton County OPP at 519-882-1011 or 1-888310-1122.

Observer Staff