Police confirm remains of young girl discovered in Rosedale dumpster
Posted May 5, 2022 10:38 am.
Last Updated May 5, 2022 6:53 pm.
Toronto police have confirmed the human remains found in a dumpster in Rosedale earlier this week belong to a young girl.
Police say the child is between the ages of four and seven, and believe she may have been deceased for nearly a year before the discovery of the body.
“The investigative mindset is kids don’t just die,” said Toronto Police Insp. Hank Idsinga during an update on Thursday. “We’ve got multiple units involved, homicide investigative response team as well as the Missing Persons Unit.”
Officers received a call for a medical complaint around 4:45 p.m on Monday when a worker found the child’s remains in a dumpster at the home on Dale Avenue, near Castle Frank Road.
Investigators believe the body was left in the area sometime between 12 p.m. on April 28 and when it was discovered this week. However, they suspect the child may have been dead since last summer, or possibly sometime before that.
“It’s a very unusual circumstance that we’re dealing with right now, that the potential time of death could have been even earlier than last summer,” Idsinga said.
The girl is described as Black, of African or mixed African descent, three-foot-six inches tall with a thin build. She has black curly hair sectioned into four ponytails, two of which were braided with black and blue bands.
Police say she has all of her teeth and was wrapped in a crochet blanket inside a plastic bag. The bag was wrapped in a colourful blanket. (Photos below)
Investigators completed an autopsy on Wednesday and are still working to determine the cause of death. Police are not yet classifying the death as a homicide despite the involvement of the Homicide Unit.
“Our first priority now is to establish the identity of this little girl,” says Idsinga.
“We expect further results from forensic pathology services in the coming weeks. We are investigating this death at its highest level, just like a homicide investigation.”
A crochet blanket discovered with the remains of the young girl (Toronto Police)
A colourful blanket was discovered with the human remains of the young girl (Toronto Police)
Neighbours say the home where the dumpster was located has been undergoing renovations and has been unoccupied for a number of years.
“It’s kind of crazy to think about, that that would happen,” says Mikkel Shiffman, who has lived in the house across the street with his parents since he was four.
“It makes you feel that stuff like this happens a lot closer than you think …it’s a shame,” he said.
Jason Conover, who lives around the corner, said he felt for whoever found the remains.
“To find a child abandoned must have been awful for the person who did,” he said.
Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report
