Facebook photo of Leanne Freeman.
The belongings of a homicide victim were found in a dumpster only about a 20 minute drive away from where the woman was found in Toronto's Port Lands area late last month, police said Friday.
Detective Sergeant Brian Borg updated reporters Friday afternoon on the police investigation into the homicide of 23-year-old Leanne Freeman. He said that last Friday, a property owner near Kingston Road and Sandown Avenue was throwing trash into a dumpster when he came across the belongings. The owner called police.
"This property, I believe, was deposited there by a person or persons who killed Leanne right after her murder. I'm not prepared to say why I know this," Det.-Sgt. Borg said.
He said police believe the death wasn't random and that Ms. Freeman's killer or killers likely knew her.
Police found Ms. Freeman with gunshot wounds in the early morning hours of Nov. 29. Ms. Freeman was still alive when police were called at about 1 a.m. to Unwin Avenue, near Leslie Street, after a driver said there had been a collision in the area. Officers quickly determined she had been shot and she was rushed to St. Michael's hospital, where she died.
Det.-Sgt. Borg said the belongings may have included some of Ms. Freeman's clothing, although she was fully clothed when police found her.
He said many other tips have been coming to investigators from people who knew Ms. Freeman.
"The information you've been providing is both substantial and very important. I would ask that you would continue to step forward," he said.
Ms. Freeman, who had worked in the sex-trade industry, was not working the night she was killed, he said.
Police said three of Ms. Freeman's siblings are travelling to Toronto, where a funeral will eventually be held for the woman. Ms. Freeman was originally from Winnipeg but had lived and travelled throughout Ontario, according to police. She arrived in Toronto in the summer.