Toronto police say following an autopsy report conducted on the human remains found in a dumpster on Monday, they belong to a little girl who has been dead since sometime in 2021.
Det. Sgt. Renee Foley told reporters at a news conference that following the autopsy on Wednesday, the remains belong to a girl, possibly between the ages of 4 and 7 years old. She is described as Black, of African or mixed-African decent, Foley said.
On Monday, officers responded to the area of Castle Frank Road and Dale Avenue at around 4:46 p.m. and found human remains in a dumpster used at a construction site of a vacant home.
Foley said the little girl is described as three feet, six inches tall with a thin build, with all of her teeth. She has black curly hair sectioned in four short ponytails, two of which were braided and secured with black and blue elastic bands.
She was wrapped in a crochet blanket inside a plastic bag that was then wrapped around another blanket, Foley said.
“We believe she was left in the area between sometime between Thursday, April 28 at noon and Monday, May 2 at 4:45 p.m.,” Foley said.
However, Foley said it is likely that the young girl has been dead for much longer than when she was dumped.
The forensic pathologist believes she may have been deceased as early as last summer or fall, or perhaps earlier, Foley said.
She also noted that police only have the preliminary reports at this time and will not be commenting on her cause of death.
Police have released images of two items of clothing, two blankets.
The girl has not yet been identified.
“Our first priority now is to establish the identity of this little girl. The investigators will leave no stone unturned,” Insp. Hank Idsinga from the homicide and missing person’s unit said.
“We want to figure out who she is.”
“Homicide is actively involved in this investigation at every second,” Idsinga continued. “Kids don’t just die. Sadly, this is what we’re dealing with right now. We’ve got multiple units involved.”
Idsinga said that investigators have looked at a couple of missing persons’ reports with similar age and features to the girl found in the dumpster “that come close but none that strike us, right now, as definitely being the one.”
He said that the information is still new and that investigators, including himself, are going through it.
“It’s a very unusual circumstance that we’re dealing with right now, that the potential time of death could have been even earlier than last summer,” Idsinga said, adding more tests will be conducted to narrow it down further.
For video surveillance, Idsinga said they are still gathering and have about two weeks worth of footage but noted that there is no direct camera at the dumpster. Officers are looking at vehicles and people who were in the area at the time.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 53 Division 416-808-5300 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers.