Ottawa police say they have taken one person into custody in connection with the alleged homicide of an 37-year-old Inuk woman who has been missing for two weeks.
Susan Kuplu was last seen in Ottawa on Jan. 10 and her disappearance is being investigated as a homicide, the Ottawa Police Service confirmed on Friday night.
Police did not provide any details about the person in their custody, only saying the person in question will appear in court on Saturday morning.
Investigators won’t comment further on the case at this time, police said.
The late night update from police comes one day after investigators said they suspect foul play may be involved in Kuplu’s disappearance and released video footage of the woman on the day she was last seen in the city earlier this month.
The police service’s major crime unit took over the missing person’s case on Tuesday evening, “based on developments in the direction of the investigation,” a police news release said.
As they appealed to the public for assistance in finding Kuplu, investigators on Thursday evening distributed a 10-second video showing the missing woman near Elgin Street and Laurier Avenue in downtown Ottawa around 10:45 a.m. on Jan. 10.
Police have since removed the footage from YouTube.
Investigators learned Kuplu, that same day, headed north toward Laurier around 11:50 a.m. and from there, possibly boarded a westbound OC Transpo bus from the Mackenzie King Bridge or somewhere nearby, police said in their release.
She could have gotten off the bus in the area of Carling Avenue and Pinecrest Road, investigators said.
On Jan. 10, Kuplu was wearing a black, mid-thigh-length parka with a black fur collar, police said, as well as dark pants, dark ankle boots and a patterned short-sleeve blouse.
As seen in the video footage released by police, she was also carrying a mid-sized, dark-coloured purse or bag.