Police investigating after body part found at pulp and paper plant

Gatineau police are investigating the Friday morning discovery of a human body part by pulp and paper plant employees in an industrial basin.

Employees at Resolute Forest Products at 79 Main St. called police at 10:25 a.m. after finding the unidentified human remains in a basin outside the plant. The basin is full of water and chemicals, said Sgt. J.P. Lemay.

Police will not disclose what part of a body was found but said there is external access to the basin. Police for now are saying it’s too early to know how the body ended up in the basin and will not say if they believe foul play is involved.

“The priority right now is to recover that part of a human body and to search inside the industrial basin to see if there are any other parts,” Lemay said.

The chemicals mean it will be challenging for police to recover the remains, he said. If a recovery is possible, police would then begin efforts to identify the person.

Gatineau police major crime investigators are involved in the investigation, but Lemay cautioned that the move is routine whenever remains are found.

“Right now we’re collecting all the information we can.”

The gruesome discovery comes one month after Gatineau police and the wife of a missing man in the area pleaded for information on what police believed was an uncharacteristic disappearance.

Yves Cyr, 41, was reported missing when he didn’t return home from work. He was last seen in an industrial park near the Gatineau airport on Dec. 7, just a few kilometres from the pulp and paper plant. Police, at the time, said there were concerns for the man’s health and safety.

The next day, Cyr’s 2008 red Ford truck was found in the parking lot of a McDonald’s restaurant at 378 Maloney Blvd. W. Police said security footage showed the truck driving into the parking lot but police did not release whether they believed Cyr was driving it at the time.