'Our hearts are broken': Father speaks out after 21-year-old daughter found dead in Mississauga, Ont. apartment

Pitch Phaunpa, 21, can be seen above. (Handout by Jack Phaunpa)

The father of a 21-year-old woman who was found dead in her Mississauga, Ont. residence earlier this month says his family’s hearts are “broken.”

Jack Phaunpa told CTV News Toronto that he brought his family to Canada 19 years ago because he understood it to be “one of the safest in the world.”

“No words can describe how sad I am," Phaunpa, who lives in New Brunswick, wrote.

On July 20, Peel police officers were called to an apartment building in Port Credit, on Helene Street North, west of Hurontario Street, to check on the wellbeing of a female resident.

Phaunpa said he called authorities after losing contact with his daughter and had become increasingly concerned.

“I worried about her very much, so I called 911 from New Brunswick to check on her,” he said.

Responding officers located his daughter, Pitch, who was also known as Polly, dead inside her apartment, police said.

“Her death is being investigated as a homicide which is believed to have occurred between July 17 and July 18,” Peel Regional Police said in a news release on Sunday.

Pitch’s cause of death has not been released.

Phaunpa said he flew to Toronto immediately after calling the police and was met by investigators upon arrival at Toronto Pearson Airport who informed him of his daughter’s death.

“I do not know about the case and I do not want to talk about it much,” he said. “Our hearts are broken. She is my lovely, lovely daughter.”

On Monday, Peel police charged 29-year-old Jordan Saunders with second-degree murder. He remains in custody pending a bail hearing.

'OUR FAMILY LIFE WAS PERFECT'

Phaunpa said Pitch grew up in Georgetown, Ont. alongside two brothers and a sister. The family moved to Canada from Thailand in 2004, he said.

"As new immigrants, our family worked hard and made our way to becoming Canadian citizens," he shared.

Phaunpa said that Pitch moved to Mississauga about a year ago to attend Toronto Film School. He says Pitch had plans to join her family and move to New Brunswick at the end of August.

“Nineteen years in Canada, our family life [has been] perfect,” he said. “I [...] actively wrote about immigration to Canada in order to encourage Thai families to move here.”

“Unfortunately, [this tragedy] happened to my daughter.”

Peel police are asking anyone with information to contact homicide investigators at 905-453-2121, ext. 3205, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or peelcrimestoppers.ca.