Toronto police have confirmed that more human remains were found near the property of a home linked to accused serial killer Bruce McArthur.
Police on Wednesday revisited the residence at 53 Mallory Crescent in the city’s Leaside neighbourhood and located “items of interest” at a ravine close by, but initially wouldn’t specify exactly what they were.
WATCH: Not ‘much of an issue’ linking remains to McArthur investigation
Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga told reporters during a news conference Thursday morning that investigators have yet to identify the remains and a pathologist examination will be conducted in the coming days.
WATCH: Lead detective in Bruce McArthur investigation describes process of locating human remains at Mallory Crescent
“All I can say is that there are some human remains that we’ve recovered,” Idsinga said.
“It’s possible it’s more than one. It’s possible that it’s part of the remains of some of the victims we’ve already recovered. We just don’t know yet.”
The remains have been sent to the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service for further examination, Idsinga added.
The identification process could involve fingerprints, dental records or DNA analysis, he said, which would take “days, weeks or months.”
A black van, which appeared to be a body removal van, showed up at the location late Wednesday afternoon where the remains of seven men were recovered from large planters earlier this year.
Police have been focusing their search efforts near a ravine just adjacent to the backyard of the Mallory Crescent property.
Canine unit conducted a search of the ravine at the rear of the premise, several locations of interest were identified,” Idsinga said.
“It has taken some time to set up the logistics of conducting excavations of these locations. The City of Toronto is responsible for the landscaping on the ravine and some time was needed to take environmental issues into consideration. Some trees were cleared to allow access for equipment.”
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Investigators said the dig operation is centralized on a compost pile on the side of the ravine.
“Where the dogs have indicated on this compost pile, they’re digging through it rather meticulously and loading what they recover into buckets,” Idsinga said.
“Those buckets are brought down to the sifting stations. It’s examined very closely for any remains.”
WATCH: Toronto police confirm human remains located at Leaside home linked to accused serial killer Bruce McArthur
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McArthur, who has been charged with eight counts of first-degree murder, worked as a landscaper and used the Mallory Crescent location to store tools and supplies.
Police said the K-9 unit visited the property recently and indicated there was a need to examine the area further.
VIDEO: Contamination on Mallory Cresc. property may have led to ‘false positives’, police say
Idsinga said that although the search will continue, not all areas being looked at will yield “positive results.”
“We have the dogs indicate quite a few premises, but we believe that’s a result of contamination from other areas, such as taking equipment here from Mallory, digging at another site, that would contaminate that site, and we believe that’s why we got so many false-positives.”
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.
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.
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.
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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.
VIDEO: Toronto police working to identify latest Mallory Crescent remains
Idsinga 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 would be deployed for the ground investigation.
Police said that although they are still working on cold cases which may be linked to McArthur, they are hopeful this will be the end of the excavation portion of their investigation once completed.
VIDEO: Toronto police remove ‘items’ from excavation of property linked to Bruce
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News of more remains being found left one woman “gutted” as she continues the years-long search for her missing brother.
Jonathan Riley left Meaford, Ont., to find short-term work in Toronto in 2013 and his family hasn’t heard from him since, his sister Judi Riley said.
“When you have a missing person, there’s no closure, but you hang on to hope,” she said Thursday.
“If he is a victim of McArthur…we don’t want closure in this way,” she said. “You’re suspended in disbelief because you don’t want this to be the ending for your sibling.”
— With files from Jessica Patton and The Canadian Press
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