Body parts found in river west of Toronto

MISSISSAUGA, ONT. — Police are scouring the area near a river west of Toronto after a woman’s head and a human foot were found.

The foot also appears to belong to a female, as the toenails were painted yellow, police said, but until pathology tests are done investigators cannot say if both the head and the foot are from the same person.

“Without a cause of death we can’t call it homicide, but certainly foul play; there’s definitely something amiss,” said Acting Insp. Randy Cowan.

The size of the body parts do not suggest they are from a child, Cowan said.

A group of hikers found the bare right foot severed from the ankle down Wednesday in the Credit River near the Hewick Meadows Park and the police marine unit found the head Thursday.

“It’s a grim discovery any time we get these calls,” Cowan said. “It’s certainly disturbing.”

Police can’t yet say if the body parts were placed there or were transported there by the water from some other point in the river, which flows from headwaters above the Niagara Escarpment to Lake Ontario.

Search crews, divers and dogs are combing the area, and police expect to be on scene for at least two days. Investigators are also asking for the public’s assistance.

“We’re looking for anybody that has seen anything suspicious within the last couple of weeks,” Cowan said. “We’re also looking for people to be vigilant in the area if they’re out walking and they happen to find something that causes them concern to give us a call.”

Officers are sifting through missing person’s reports, in case any have a link to the body parts, Cowan said.

“Typically in the region there are always a number of outstanding missing people,” he said. “The majority of those return safely. … We are going through those reports right now, reaching out to family members.”

Investigators believe the body parts were severed in the past few weeks.

Angela Elammar and her family live in a home facing onto the park, and said the discovery left her thinking of her children.

“It scared me a bit because my kids take our dogs walking there,” she said, adding they won’t be walking the dog in the park again “for a long time.”