Police have arrested two people in connection with the disappearance of a pregnant Halifax woman who was writing a thesis on missing and murdered women.
The arrests came after Loretta Saunders’ car was found in Harrow, Ont., located about 40 kilometres south of Windsor.
Victoria Henneberry, 28, and Blake Leggette, 25, are charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and for outstanding warrants.
CTV Atlantic reports that the names of the accused match the names of two people who rented Saunders’ apartment in January.
Her boyfriend told CTV that Saunders was living with him at a different location and that she had met her tenants through Kijiji.com.
Saunders, a 26-year-old Saint Mary’s University student, was reported missing by her family on Monday. She is originally from Newfoundland and Labrador, but had moved to Halifax for school.
She was last seen Thursday, Feb. 13 at her apartment in Halifax’s Cowie Hill neighbourhood. She was in contact with a friend on social media Friday afternoon, but she hasn’t been in contact with friends or family since. Police said the last conversation Saunders has with a friend was normal, and she didn't indicate that she was planning to leave Halifax.
Saunders was wrapping up a thesis about murdered and missing women when she went missing.
Saunders' family told CTV Atlantic that it's very unusual for her to be out of touch with loved ones.
"It’s not normal for my sister to not talk to my dad every day. That’s his princess,” her brother Edmund Saunders said Tuesday.
He said his sister’s boyfriend received a strange text message from Saunders’ phone number a few days ago.
"She told him that she had locked herself out of online banking and that she couldn't remember my mother's maiden name to unlock it," Edmund Saunders said. "You know, I really find that hard to believe."
Saunders is described as a five-foot-seven Inuk woman. She weighs 120 pounds and has light brown hair. Her car is a blue 2000 Toyota Celica with the Newfoundland and Labrador licence plate HCP 543.
Anyone who has seen the car before it was discovered, or has any information about the case, is asked to contact police.
With files from CTV Atlantic
