Northumberland OPP say a body found in the Trent River on Monday has been identified as the missing man in a homicide investigation in the Municipality of Trent Hills earlier this month.
Police say on Monday around 2 p.m., two kayakers located human remains bear the shoreline of the Trent River near Armour Island along County Road 38 near the 8th Line East, about five kilometres north of Campbellford
On Wednesday, a post-mortem examination conducted at the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto identified the remains as Blythe Sexsmith, 61, of Trent Hills, Ontario.
Sexsmith was the focus of an extensive search about 20 kilometres north of where his remains were found.
On May 6, Ontario Provincial Police arrested a man after finding evidence of an alleged assault an at Centennial Lane residence in the hamlet of Trent River, about 50 kilometres east of Peterborough. OPP were initially responding to a call about an injured male
Despite not finding Sexsmith’s body, police arrested Steven Murray Kelly, 62, of Selwyn Township and charged him with first-degree murder.
OPP then conducted an extensive ground, aerial and marine search to locate Sexsmith but were unsuccessful.
However, according to the East Region’s Coroner officer, Kelly died on May 18 while in custody at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay. His death remains under investigation.
OPP say the homicide investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Northumberland OPP at 905-372- 5421 or 1-888-310-1122 or anonymous via the Peterborough/Northumberland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or on online at www.stopcrimehere.ca.
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