Police are searching for a man after a woman was found dead at a home in Oshawa Tuesday morning — a death officers have deemed suspicious.
Durham Regional Police said officers responded to a wellbeing check at a home in the area of Rideau Street and Saguenay Avenue around 7 a.m. Tuesday, which is near Park Road North and Bond Street West.
“We received information that was concerning to us involving a female and male, maybe in crisis or maybe harming themselves,” Const. Nicholas Gluckstein told Global News, noting it was a family member of the woman who called police.
Officers arrived and breached the door, he said, and found a woman dead inside. It’s believed she had recently died. No one else was inside the residence, he said.
“The male in question was not in the residence and police have since not been able to locate him or get in contact with him,” Gluckstein said.
Gluckstein said the woman’s death is being treated as suspicious and homicide investigators are looking into it. He stopped short of calling the death a homicide and noted that her body will be sent for a postmortem exam where more will be learned.
Police said officers are now concerned for man’s safety. Gluckstein didn’t call him a suspect in her death.
“The investigators have reason to believe that there are some safety concerns for that male, just like there were safety concerns for the female in question, which is why they attended the residence in the first place,” Gluckstein said.
“Their goal right now is just to confirm that he is OK and safe, so that they can speak with him about exactly what happened. So it’s early in the investigation. I can’t speak to who is a suspect, who is not a suspect, who is a person of interest, not a person of interest.”
Gluckstein said the man, who police identified as 31-year-old Lal Kannampuzha Poulose, was known to the woman and is “familiar” with that residence. It’s not clear if he lives at the home or if anyone else does.
Police said Poulose is believed to be driving a blue Ford Escape with the Ontario licence place CXKZ784.
He was described as five-foot-eight with a medium build.
“We do believe this was an isolated incident. However, because we have been unable to get into contact with this male who we have safety concerns for, we do urge the public that if you do see him or his vehicle not to approach him and just to immediately contact 911, just to keep yourself safe,” Gluckstein said.