More charges laid against suspects in Loretta Saunders case

CTV Atlantic: New charges, but no sign of Loretta Two people accused of stealing a car belonging to a missing Halifax university student are now facing additional charges.

Two people accused of stealing a car belonging to a missing Halifax university student are now facing additional charges in connection with the case.

Loretta Saunders, who is three months pregnant, was seen last Thursday at her apartment in Halifax’s Cowie Hill neighbourhood. The 26-year-old was in contact with a friend on social media Friday afternoon, but she hasn’t been in contact with friends or family since.

Her family says it is very unusual for her to be out of touch with loved ones.

She was reported missing to police on Monday and investigators are treating her disappearance as suspicious.

Saunders’ car was found in Harrow, Ont., located about 40 minutes outside Windsor, Tuesday evening.

Victoria Henneberry, 28, and her boyfriend Blake Leggette, 25, were arrested by the Ontario Provincial Police without incident after the car was found.

Both are known to police in Halifax and Calgary. They appeared in court in Windsor on Wednesday on outstanding warrants and to face charges of possession of stolen goods and fraud-related charges.

In addition to stealing her car, police say Henneberry and Leggette are also accused of stealing and using Saunders’ debit card on several occasions between the time she was last seen and when her car was found.

CTV News has confirmed that the names of the people arrested match the names of a man and woman to whom Saunders had just rented her apartment in January.

Saunders’ boyfriend says she was living with him at a different location in Halifax and that she met the tenants through Kijiji. He says she was on her way to the apartment to collect overdue rent money when he last saw her.

Henneberry and Leggette are being held in a jail in Windsor, where they are expected to make another court appearance Friday for a bail hearing.

Halifax police say they have obtained arrest warrants for Leggette and Henneberry in relation to the stolen vehicle and plan to have them returned to Nova Scotia to face the charges.

“We expect these individuals to appear in Windsor court tomorrow where we are asking them to be remanded for six days to allow our investigators to travel to Ontario and bring them back to Halifax on these charges,” says Bourdages.

Investigators were back at Saunders’ apartment in Cowie Hill on Thursday, scouring the scene for evidence. Forensic officers were seen carrying cameras, plastic gloves and evidence bags to the tenth floor.

Surveillance video from nearby businesses, including a gas station, is also being reviewed.

“To try to determine if we can glean any kind of information as to where she might be or where she might have gone to,” says Halifax Regional Police Const. Pierre Bourdages.

As police collect evidence, friends of the missing woman are collecting donations for her family, many of whom are travelling to Halifax from other provinces.

An aspiring lawyer from Newfoundland and Labrador, Saunders has been a student at Saint Mary’s University for the past three years. Ironically, she just finished writing a thesis about murdered and missing aboriginal women.

Family, friends and strangers gathered at the Native Friendship Centre in Halifax on Thursday to offer support and organize a candlelight vigil.

“There is a lot of work to do. If you could imagine just getting off a plane and coming to a strange city and saying ‘where do I start? Where do I look?’” says Cheryl Maloney of the Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association.

“We are organizing volunteers. We are going to do what we can.”

Saint Mary’s University has also agreed to help the Saunders family.

“Throughout Loretta’s tenure at Saint Mary’s University, the community has been privileged by her…in the face of this unfolding and ongoing tragedy, we urge the university to provide financial support to the family of Loretta Saunders,” said the school in a statement.

Saunders is described as an Inuk woman with light brown hair. She is five-foot-seven and weighs 120 pounds.

Her car is a blue 2000 Toyota Celica with Newfoundland and Labrador licence plate HCP 543. Police say the car has a loud muffler and a spoiler at the back.

Anyone who may have seen Saunders or her car since last Thursday is asked to contact police.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl