Toronto police say ‘items’ were found but wouldn’t specify exactly what after investigators resumed the excavation of a property linked to alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur on Wednesday.
A black van, which appeared to be a body removal van, shower up at the property on Mallory Crescent located in the city’s Leaside neighbourhood late in the afternoon where the remains of seven men were recovered from large planters earlier in the year.
“We have found items but until there is testing and confirmation from the coroners office we’re unable to say for sure what it is,” Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray told Global News.
“The van and such is there because we have to treat everything as if it is something until it’s nothing.”
Gray said officers will be at the property for weeks to come.
Police said earlier on Wednesday the K-9 unit revisited the property recently and indicated there was a need to examine the area further.
“The dogs that we’ve used to search the properties in the past have been cadaver dogs,” Gray said.
“They are the same dogs that indicated on the planters that were seized from the Mallory Crescent property, those same planters were the ones in which we found the remains of seven men. So the dogs have indicated again, different spots on the property. It’s too early to tell what exactly they’ll find.”
Gray said police are focusing their efforts on the property’s backyard and the adjacent areas.
VIDEO: (Feb. 1, 2018) Toronto Police continue to search for the remains of victims in various properties around the GTA with the main focus on a home on Mallory Crescent in Leaside. Mark Carcasole has the details.
Authorities said that between May and June, investigators were able to conduct searches at 100 other properties related to McArthur’s landscaping business but nothing was found.
“Over the last several weeks, we’ve been doing searches with our police dog services at a number of properties, almost a hundred in total,” Gray said.
“Nothing was found at those other properties but the dogs did indicate on different areas at the Mallory Crescent property, which is why we’re starting an excavation process here today.”
The 66-year-old was arrested in January and charged with murder in the deaths of Andrew Kinsman and Selim Esen, who went missing from Toronto’s Gay Village in 2017.
READ MORE: Ontario judge to lead review of Toronto police handling of missing person cases
Later that month, he was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi, and Dean Lisowick. In February, he was also charged in the death of Skandaraj Navaratnam.
In April, police charged Mcarthur in the death of Abdulbasir Faizi, who was reported missing in 2010, and days later charged McArthur in the death of Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam, who came to Canada from Sri Lanka and was not reported missing.
READ MORE: Toronto police to start searching more properties linked to Bruce McArthur this week
Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga, the lead investigator in the case, had said earlier this year that the search for further remains at the Mallory Crescent location will continue once the weather warmed up and that cadaver dogs will be deployed for the ground investigation.
Police said they will at the location for the next several weeks to conduct further excavation of the area and an update on the search will be provided once the operation is complete.
“It will be dependent on what, if anything, is found and what if any other spots the dogs indicate on,” Gray said.
VIDEO: Forensic investigators dig up drainpipe in front of home linked to alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur
— With files from Jamie Mauracher, Jessica Patton and The Canadian Press