THUNDER BAY – City police are still holding the site of Thunder Bay’s first homicide of 2019.
A passerby on Sunday at about 1:45 p.m. discovered the body off of 108th Avenue near the Thunder Bay Power Generating Station, and police have turned to the public for information on what led to the death of the male victim, believed to be in his early 40s.
Det.-Insp. Ryan Hughes on Monday said police don’t have a lot to go on at this point.
“Through investigation we’re suspecting it’s our first homicide of the year,” Hughes said. “I don’t really have any more information to give other than that, that it was an unknown age. We don’t have an identity on the person yet.”
Hughes said the body was found out in the open, just beyond the curve in the road leading to the power facility.
On Monday green markers could be seen dotting the crime scene, a lone cruiser keeping watch. Traces of what appeared to be blood were also visible in the snow.
Asked if the killing was gang-related, Hughes said it was too soon to tell.
He was also unable to comment on whether or not the killing took place at the site, or if the killer or killers brought the body to a mostly deserted location and tossed it on the side of the road.
It’s certainly not common, he added.
“There are no areas in Thunder Bay that are known for body dumps. We don’t have that many homicides or body dumps. It’s a travelled area. People go out to watch the deer. It’s a trafficked area and luckily a passerby saw what they believed to be a body before the snow and the wind hit,” Hughes said.
“It could have been covered up until the springtime.”
A post-mortem was held on Monday.
Anyone with information is asked to phone police.
“We’re looking for anyone from the public who was in the area or saw something suspicious to contact police or Crime Stoppers. We’re reaching out to the public for assistance because we don’t have very much to go on.”
As per usual policy, police did not reveal the cause of death, though Hughes said their initial investigation led them to believe it was a homicide.
