Body in a barrel...

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There was something interesting happening this weekend in Toronto... http://www.thespec.com/News/article/774583 This article is long, and goes on to talk about other findings in other areas, so I've copied and pasted the pertinent part. I especially like the turn of phrase the reporter used to describe the homicide detective... unfortunately myLot found issue with one of the words so I had to split it. (Can you guess which one?) [i]As the boom on a Marine Police launch cranked up its winch, the rusty oil drum broke the surface of the grease-slicked water. Girded with thick ropes and belts, the steel barrel hung suspended and dripping while a dive officer in his unzipped wet suit carefully manoeuvred to place it on the boat’s stern platform. Open on one end, the drum appeared packed with gravel and sediment. It could have been a scene from The Sopranos and certainly had the fingerprints of mob body disposal all over it, though homicide detectives refused to speculate on their gruesome discovery, lassoed up from some 20 feet down in the murk of Lake Ontario. There were definitely human remains inside, as police later confirmed, after the haul was moved to the Marine detachment and from there transferred to the coroner’s office. The body is believed to be encased in cement. The 45-gallon barrel was fished out from just alongside the retaining wall at the foot of Jarvis Street around 1 p.m., after police received specific information that kicked the search and retrieval operation into full throttle on a sun-dappled Sunday morning in the city. Cops knew exactly where to look. Cyclists and promenaders enjoying the holiday weekend hardly cast a curious eye toward the odd activity along a stretch of the lake’s shoreline that will soon open to the public as Canada’s Sugar Beach, landscaping almost completed just east of the sickly-sweet smelling Redpath sugar refinery, long a waterfront industrial behemoth. Two police divers had gone into the unpleasant water around 11 a.m., summoned for the job by Det. Justin Vander Heyden of the Toronto homicide unit. A high-speed police Zodiac boat bobbed nearby the Marine cruiser. Since the area has been under guard by a private security company for some time – posted signs warn against theft, vandalism and trespassing – the implication is that a barrel heaved over the railing would likely have occurred before the current construction busy-ness. “This is obviously an active construction site (but) this didn’t look like this very long ago,” said Vander Heyden. “I think a vehicle could have had access to this area, which I believe was a parking lot at some point.” Wearing a well-cut suit typical of the sartorially-conscious homicide di ck squad, Vander Heyden told reporters he’d received a tip early in the morning. “It’s my belief that there’s a victim of a murder encased in concrete within that barrel.” He sounded quite certain about the victim’s identity, and how long the barrel had been in the lake, but declined to share that information. “Obviously, we don’t deal with bodies encased in concrete very often. We have to rely on the expertise of the members of the coroner’s office. “I’d describe this as definitely a deliberate act. This isn’t something that was done by a single person. Obviously that barrel of concrete is going to weigh quite some amount. I speculate that this would be some sort of organized effort to get this body here.” Police were not prepared to reveal even the gender of the victim they suspect this to be but did say they don’t think it’s a child. “At this point, I’ve got a good idea who’s contained within that barrel but I’m not at liberty to speculate,” Vander Heyden continued. “It would be irresponsible at this point.” Vander Heyden noted there are a number of families anxiously awaiting word on missing loved ones “and I don’t want to traumatize them until we can confirm the contents of that barrel.” He shied away from any discussion of mob involvement. “I don’t want to glamourize at this point.” As the operation proceeded, two more Zodiacs with soldiers aboard zipped past, leading to speculation that the military has begun sweeping the lake for bombs in advance of next month’s G-20 Summit in Toronto and their sonar equipment had first spotted the barrel. But Vander Heyden insisted this was not the case. “I don’t want to make this seem like G-20 castoffs. It certainly isn’t. At this point, the G-20 operations going on here have nothing to do with my investigation.” Police expect the victim will be identified within the next two days. Anyone with information is asked to contact Vander Heyden at 416-808-7397 or Det. Hank Idsinga at 416-808-7392 or anonymously at Crime Stoppers, 416-222-TIPS (8477), or online at www.222tips.com.[/i]