As the on-site investigation into a house explosion in Mississauga comes to a close, residents are being allowed to return to the site and investigators are shifting their focus to mysterious letters found at the scene in an attempt to determine the cause of the blast.
About 700 homes were evacuated after a house located at 4201 Hickory Dr. was levelled by an explosion around 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, leaving as many as 25 neighbouring residences damaged and nine people injured.
Two bodies were recovered from the rubble, 55-year-old Dianne Page on Tuesday and 55-year-old Robert Nadler on Thursday. Police said Thursday that although the explosion is considered a criminal investigation, the homicide bureau is not yet involved.
READ MORE: Mississauga house explosion: Investigators identify second body pulled from rubble
Paul Camilleri, Page’s nephew, told Global News Saturday that Nadler had served 10 years in prison in connection with the killing of a friend after a dispute over money in 1982.
“We had a happy family until this all happened,” Camilleri said.
“We can’t get back our aunt, none of us personally said our goodbyes … I’m basically going to live my entire life in regret that this happened.”
WATCH: Nephew of house explosion victim says aunt was ‘wonderful person,’ deeply religious
Peel Regional Police Sgt. Josh Colley said Monday that police and the Ontario Fire Marshal had concluded their on-site portion of the investigation, which now shifts towards the letters found at the scene.
“They’ll be working extremely hard to analyze letters that were found, some of the documentation that was found … and it will continue behind the scenes,” he said.
“They’re still working on the cause of the explosion and that will take some time and we want to make sure that we analyze all the evidence and are certain with the cause.”
READ MORE: Mississauga house explosion: Investigators identify body of woman found in rubble
Colley said expert analysis of the evidence is required, which could take weeks, so he could not provide a time frame on the investigation.
“I spoke earlier about handwriting analysis, the biggest portion is making sure the letters are associated to the right addresses,” he said.
“Because there have been numerous houses that were destroyed, we just have to make sure that what we have recovered thus far we can put back to the specific addresses.”
WATCH: Police still working to determine cause of Mississauga house explosion
Colley said the cause of the explosion is the main focus of the investigation and that autopsies on both bodies had been completed, but the cause of death was not released.
“Unfortunately that’s part of the investigation and that’s why they’re analyzing every piece of evidence,” he said.
“They want to be certain when a determination is made whether deliberate, accidental so that’s what’s taking so much time with this investigation.”
READ MORE: Mysterious notes found at Mississauga house explosion scene may lead to cause: police
Colley said he could not confirm Nadler’s criminal background because it is something police will be focusing on as part of their investigation.
“When we’re able to provide more information and we’ve figured out a cause and moved forward from there, we’ll be able to provide a lot more information to the media and to the public just to give them a sense of why and how this happened,” he said.
Colley said Wednesday that notes found at the scene of the explosion could provide insight into the cause of the blast.
WATCH: Investigators looking at mysterious notes found in rubble of Mississauga home explosion
Global News obtained one of the notes found at the scene and turned it over to police Wednesday.
The notes appear to be written by a woman who complains of an inability to maintain her house due to persistent health issues.
“I just stopped caring as much because of my pain … I trust God to look after me and my husband to take us home. I sleep away my days cause I am in pain. Vertigo is the worst.”
The notes also make several references to the Bible and the woman’s husband, who was also categorized as having health issues.
“Dear God, You know that my health and my husband’s health are in poor condition. We ask that you help us, we have trusted you with all of our lives and possessions because everything belongs to you; including us,” it reads.
“We have put all of our faith and trust in you. Only you can save us from man and his laws … Why are we still here God?”
WATCH: 700 addresses initially impacted by evacuation in Mississauga: fire chief
Mississauga Fire Chief Tim Beckett said Monday families in 69 residences remain under an evacuation order, but residents will continue to be allowed back to their homes this week.
“Over the period of the next couple of days we will start releasing that site, whether it be all at once or within sections, back to the residents, back to the insurance companies and in a very co-ordinated effort to ensure that the residents’ safety and the safety of any public coming into the area is addressed,” he said.
“On Tuesday, the night of the explosion, we had some 700 addresses that were impacted by the evacuation zone. Over time we have now been able to bring people back into the area and we’re now currently at 69 addresses that are unable to return to their homes.”
READ MORE: Explosion destroys home in Mississauga; at least 1 person dead, up to 25 houses damaged
Beckett added that of the 69 addresses, 32 units were in an apartment building located at 1360 Rathburn Road East in addition to 37 other homes.
He also said that some residents will be allowed into their homes on a 15-minute supervised visit to get their “personal needs,” before the homes are turned over to insurance companies and engineers are brought in to assess structural damage and whether they are safe to be occupied.
“Walking down the street was a little surreal just seeing where houses were and where it no longer is,” said neighbour Anna Wolanin.
“We eventually walked up the steps and they deemed that we could not go in to retrieve things. There’s a lot of glass everywhere, the ceiling is hanging.”
WATCH: Residents returning to site of Mississauga house explosion
Marco Mastrorilli said his grandparents live a few houses down from the blast, while his uncle lives across the street.
“It’s just devastating to see what happened. Never expected anything like this in my life,” he said. “I’ve been visiting them … for 17 years and never, never in my life expected this.”
Sandra Marasovic said emergency crews allowed her back into her house to retrieve some of her belongings and she’s grateful for the help they have provided.
WATCH: Displaced residents speak out after Mississauga house explosion
“That was the best phone call I’ve ever had in my life when they said, ‘You can go to your house for 10 minutes,'” she said.
“I was so ecstatic just to be in there for 10 minutes and see everything’s fine — yeah there’s broken stuff but you know, it’s your life, your life is in there.”
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