No evidence disappearances, deaths in city are related: Toronto police

CTV National News: T.O. police reassure public Toronto police are launching a review and reassuring the public after a string of unsolved cases in the Village. Peter Akman reports.

Toronto police say there is no reason to believe that a series of disappearances in the city’s Church-Wellesley Village are in any way related.

The neighbourhood has been on edge for more than a year after two men -- Andrew Kinsman and Selim Esen -- went missing. Their disappearances followed those of three other men who have also vanished from the area in recent years.

Last week, a 22-year-old woman, Tess Richey, was found murdered in the same area.

Her body was found  in an alleyway behind a building under construction -- metres from where police said she was last seen three days before. An autopsy revealed she had died of strangulation.

Another woman, Alloura Wells, who was transgender, went missing in July. Her body was found in August. Her cause of death has not been revealed and police have not said whether foul play was involved.

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders acknowledged Friday that the fact that these deaths and disappearances have occurred “in a small geographical area” has caused “great concern.” He said updating the public on the ongoing investigations has “the potential of being able to close the loop.”

Det. Sgt. Michael Richmond, who is leading a task force into the disappearances of Kinsman and Esen, said Friday there has been a great deal of misinformation circulating about the disappearances, including reports that a serial killer could be involved.

Richmond told reporters the community “is understandably concerned” about the unexplained circumstances surrounding the disappearance of these men. Police are also concerned, he said.

But he added “there is no evidence at this point that in any way establishes that the disappearances of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman are linked to the disappearance” of the other three men.

He added there is also no evidence that suggests the Esen and Kinsman disappearances are linked, even though a single task force is investigating both cases.

“It simply makes sense to have the same team investigate these disappearances in parallel,” Richmond explained.

Earlier this week, police said Esen and Kinsman had been active on online dating apps prior to their disappearance. They warned users of apps such as Tinder or Grindr to make safety top-of-mind at all times when using such apps. They suggested meeting dates in a safe space and informing others of meet-up plans.

Richmond noted though that even though all five men were active on social media, there is no evidence that dating apps played a role in their disappearances.

Update on Richey murder

Regarding the murder of Tess Richey, Det. Sgt. Graham Gibson told reporters investigators believe Richey may have met her killer at a hot dog stand outside a bar where she and a friend had spent the evening.

They are now looking for a male suspect with a slim build, dark hair, dark jacket and light pants who was last seen with Richey around 4 a.m.

Richey’s mother found her daughter’s body in an alleyway three days after she disappeared. Toronto Police said earlier this week that its professional standards unit is now looking into how officers handled Richey’s disappearance.

Chief Saunders told reporters Friday “this is an opportunity for us as a service to have a review of how we conduct missing persons investigations.”

He said the professional standards unit will look at “who received what information” about the disappearance, what was done with that information, and whether there were any “gaps or issues” in how such investigations are carried out.

When asked whether mistakes were made in the investigation into Richey's disappearance, Saunders replied: “I do think there are things we could have done better, yes.”

When asked to elaborate, Saunders replied officers do not always handle calls about missing persons.

“I think that when someone is calling in to report a missing person, an element of sensitivity is necessary,” Saunders said. “As busy as we may be, just taking that extra step in realizing what the circumstances is, I think, can go a long way.”

Update on Wells death

Investigators looking into the death of Alloura Wells said are still looking to speak with a man believed to be the last person to see Wells alive.

He has been identified as Augustinus Balesdent, in his late 20s or early 30s. He would have seen Wells sometime in early July.

Wells’ body was not discovered until Aug. 5. Det. Sgt. Dan Sabadics said Friday Wells’ body appeared to have gone undiscovered for three or four weeks and that decomposition had hampered their initial efforts to identify her, and to determine her cause of death.

Sabadics stressed that as of now, there are no signs of foul play in Wells’ death.

Saunders said officers from the professional standards section would also be looking at the Wells case as part of its review of how Toronto police handle missing persons cases.