Lindsay Buziak murder tips flood phone lines

Tips keep coming in by phone and e-mail in the aftermath of last Friday’s Dateline NBC report on the Lindsay Buziak murder.

The 24-year-old real estate agent was stabbed to death on Feb. 2, 2008 after meeting a man and a woman, whom she believed to be possible buyers, at a home in Gordon Head.

The number of tips that had been compiled rose to 160 as of Tuesday morning, and many more remained to be looked at, said Saanich police Sgt. Dean Jantzen.

“There are still more calls that have yet to be returned and tips that have been sent by e-mail that have to be processed. I am told that many, many tips are coming in my e-mail.”

Tipsters from as far away as New Jersey in the east and Hawaii in the west have made contact, Jantzen said.

“The phone is described as ringing constantly. There are some live calls that are taken by our officers as time permits and as their workload permits while they’re there working on this information.

“The tip are being collated into different categories. Many of those tips that are being sent of us are investigative suggestions and theories of viewers who watched the program.”

Most of those suggestions and theories have turned out to be redundant, and none of the other tips has led to a big change in the case, Jantzen said.

“There is nothing overtly new to our investigators that arose from the program.”

The tips will be assessed and some could lead to further investigation, Jantzen said.

Eight to 10 officers are involved on the case. Even with the influx of tips, Jantzen said they are eager for more input.

“We encourage people to call us if they have information.”

He said the Saanich police department had a positive reaction to the 45-minute Dateline segment.

“We were satisfied as an organization that this was an accurate portrayal of the investigation to date, and that it was a clear and concise portrayal of Lindsay Buziak’s life cut short because of these tragic circumstances.”

Still, there is more to the investigation than the show could convey, Jantzen said.

“[It] was not an exhaustive report of all the investigative steps that have been taken in this two-year investigation,” he said.

The local tip line for the Buziak case is 250-475-4356, the international line is 1-888-980-1919, and e-mails can be sent to tips@saanichpolice.ca.

jwbell@tc.canwest.com