Peel Regional Police said Sunday they have "reasonable suspicion" that a body pulled from a pond north of Toronto could that of a missing Brampton woman.
Raquel Junio has been missing since Thursday. (Peel Regional Police) Raquel Junio, 42, has been missing since early Thursday after she was seen being taken from her home. Investigators recovered a body from a pond late Saturday during a search in the Palgrave, Ont. area.
"We have reasonable suspicion at this point to believe that that is the body of the victim involved in the kidnapping," Peel Regional spokesman Const. Adam Minnion told reporters at the scene Sunday afternoon.
"We were following what we considered to be a very strong lead and it turned out to be of significant evidentiary value."
However, Minnion said investigators could not provide absolute confirmation of the identity of the body until a post-mortem examination is completed sometime on Monday.
"We have reason to believe that this is the victim but we cannot be 100-per cent committal," he said.
"There is a systematic process in place for that to occur and based on some intangibles and those are evidentiary issues, I just simply cannot give you 100-per cent commitment at this time."
The discovery of a body came on the same day that a second suspect was charged in the case. Police said Gary Murray, 42, from Brampton, has been charged with kidnapping, forcible confinement and assault.
On Friday, the woman's estranged husband, 43-year-old Macdermid Ermacora of Brampton, was charged with kidnapping, forcible confinement and assault. He appeared in court Friday and was remanded in custody until next week.
Minnion said both men were friends but could not say how long they had known each other.
Minnion also said the charges could be upgraded if warranted.
Macdermid Ermacora, 43, has been charged with kidnapping, forcible confinement and assault. (Peel Regional Police) Police were called to a home at 15 Deerfield Crescent in Brampton around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Witnesses there told police they saw someone pushing a woman into a vehicle. The vehicle, a Ford F350 pickup truck, then left the scene, police said.
Minnion said the truck is noticeably different from other vehicles as it was a larger sized pickup with extra lights and larger tires.
Ermacora was arrested in his truck at 7 a.m. Thursday.
Investigators had spent Friday searching an area in Nottawa, Ont., south of Collingwood, but later suspended that search.
Junio is described as five feet, two inches tall and of Philippine descent. She is petite and has black, shoulder-length hair.
Monday, August 22, 2011
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