Human remains found in Uxbridge belong to missing Toronto man: Police
Posted May 17, 2022 11:29 am.
Last Updated May 18, 2022 6:19 am.
Police in Durham Region confirmed on Tuesday that human remains discovered in Uxbridge last week belong to a Toronto man missing since last summer.
Officers responded to the rural area of Uxbridge Concession Road 6 and Allbright Road around 3 p.m. on May 10 when a homeowner in the area noticed a suspicious bag floating in a large pond adjacent to the road.
A body was subsequently discovered inside a hockey bag after police arrived.
Officers searched the water and the surrounding area extensively, and forensic investigators conducted a post-mortem on the remains.
Police have confirmed the body belongs to 32-year-old Ariel Kaplan of Toronto. He was reported missing to Toronto police in August 2021.
Det. Sgt. Doris Carriere says Kaplan was last seen in the area of Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue in Toronto.
“Based on the evidence available to us at this time, we believe that Ariel Kaplan was murdered and his body was disposed [of] in Uxbridge sometime in the fall of 2021,” Carriere said.
In May 2021, Kaplan was charged with possession of property obtained by crime exceeding $5,000 after a trailer containing $243,000 worth of goods was stolen and found in a Toronto warehouse.
Toronto police are now working with the Durham homicide unit as the investigation continues. Investigators are looking to speak with anyone who saw or had contact with Kaplan before he went missing last summer.
Hockey bag had been floating in pond for several months: Police
In speaking with witnesses, Carriere says that the hockey bag containing Kaplan’s body had been floating in the pond since November 2021.
The property owner decided to retrieve the bag and bring it to shore, which is when the call to the police was made.
The cause of death is not yet clear. Carriere says that Kaplan’s body was most likely in the water since the fall and consistent with the timeline provided by witnesses.
“It does pose a difficulty, but at the same time, it assisted us in preserving the body in a certain state that was useful for us to conduct an identification of the body,” Carriere added.
