Hamilton cops find human remains in search for missing woman
Detectives believe Singh was murdered in her apartment and her remains dumped down a garbage chute
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Some of the answers in the mysterious disappearance of a Hamilton woman may finally be at hand.
Homicide detectives announced Thursday that partial human remains discovered at a Hamilton landfill are suspected to belong to 40-year-old Shalini Singh.
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Cops say they are now awaiting DNA confirmation that the remains are Singh.
The remains were discovered on May 21, months after investigators zeroed in on a 5,000-cubic-metre area. A Hamilton Police team has been scouring the dump since February.
“The remains we have located are within the target zone for this investigation. So I am hopeful and optimistic that we will receive the DNA results that we are looking for,” Det. Sgt. Daryl Reid told reporters at a morning press conference.
He added that her heartbroken family has been notified. A definitive answer may take several weeks, Reid added.
Singh disappeared sometime after Dec. 4, 2024. Previously, she had spoken to her family either every day or every other day.
When the calls stopped, her family contacted the police to report her missing.
On Dec. 12, eight days after her disappearance, the homicide unit took charge of the investigation. From the start, detectives believed that Singh had been murdered in her apartment and her remains dumped down a garbage chute.
From there, investigators learned the apartment waste had been trucked to the Glanbrook landfill. Cops later determined the approximate area where the refuse was dumped and began the search.
Singh’s ex-boyfriend has not been cooperative in the probe, but Reid said that so far, he’s neither a suspect nor a person of interest. There has been “no indication” that more than one person was involved in the murder, he said.
The veteran detective cautioned that the remains’ identification will be the next step forward, adding that investigators “have to be open” about all possibilities.
According to cops, the apartment building where Singh resided has a multitude of cameras. Reid said that Singh went into the building on Dec. 4, 2024, and never left.
Reid said the search has been arduous and at times dangerous. In addition, cops were plagued with a snowy winter and, for the past few weeks, rain, making the search difficult.
In February, Shalini’s mother recalled the last time she spoke to her daughter — on the day she vanished.
“She just kept saying, ‘I love you, mom, I love you mom, I love you, mom.’ And I said, ‘What’s the matter with you, Shalini? Are you all right?'” Anita told CBC News. “And she hung up all of a sudden.”
The worried mom said she and Shalini’s father, who live in Burlington, desperately tried to contact their daughter. They called their daughter’s and her boyfriend’s phones countless times. Initially, her boyfriend was also missing.
The parents reported their daughter missing on Dec. 10.
As for boyfriend, Reid said in February: “All I can say is we’re just looking into his possible involvement.”
The landfill search is continuing.
If you have any information, contact Hamilton Police homicide unit Det. Adam Baglieri at 905-546-3859.
@HunterTOSun
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