‘That girl needs recognition’: Man who discovered Moncton murder victim relieved arrests made

A man charged in connection to a death of a woman appeared in Moncton court on Tuesday.

It happened almost six weeks ago, but the nature of the crime still has many in shock and disbelief.

The body of 39-year-old Melissa Price was discovered in a garbage bin at the bottom of High Street in Moncton, N.B., on Feb. 15.

On March 12, police arrested Devlin O’Blenis and charged the 35-year-old with first-degree murder in her death.

His next court appearance is on April 2.

Joshua Martin was arrested last Thursday and charged with being an accessory after the fact of murder.

The 36-year-old was in court Tuesday for a bail hearing on an unrelated matter and is due back in court on April 16.

Meanwhile, the man who says he discovered Price’s body tells CTV News he’s relieved arrests have been made.

“I’m just kind of glad that they found somebody. That girl needs recognition. Her family needs recognition,” said Jake Woods.

Woods noticed the garbage bin at the very end of High Street near a walking trail around noon on Feb. 15.

He said garbage left by the homeless can accumulate in the area, but thought the bin was in an odd place, so he went to investigate.

“We get a lot of people around here. So, homeless, carts, garbage. I just thought it was garbage,” said Woods. “It wasn’t.”

Woods said he touched the bin with his feet to see what was inside.

“It looked like clothes and garbage,” he said. “As soon as I noticed what I thought it was, I just ran from the road right here. Called 911, said ‘I think I have either a dead body… I’m not sure if it’s female or male.’”

Woods isn’t sure when Price’s body would have been discovered if he hadn’t gone to the bottom of the street to look for himself.

“That’s the bad thing about it. Nobody would have even checked. She could have been there for weeks, days on end, nobody would have noticed,” said Woods.

Police soon confirmed Price’s death was a homicide but have not said how she died.

The RCMP conducted operations at a nearby affordable housing complex on Norwood Avenue on Feb. 16 and on Vail Street on Feb. 19, both in connection with the investigation.

The bottom of High and Wolfe Street has seen more traffic than usual since the murder, Woods said.

“A lot of people, a lot of people coming by. People stopping at the end of the road. Vehicles driving up onto the grass and onto the road and stuff,” said Woods.

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