Autopsy results released yesterday show that Ardeth Wood drowned.
Police also confirmed the 27-year-old's body was naked when it was discovered five days after she disappeared during a bicycle ride on Aug. 6.
Despite an intense search of the area where Ms. Wood's body was found, police said they haven't found any of her clothing.
Staff-Sgt. Monique Ackland said yesterday police do not have a firm description of the clothes Ms. Wood, a University of Waterloo PhD student, was wearing on the day she disappeared.
Ms. Wood's death has been ruled a homicide. The new facts suggest her killer caused her to drown in Green's Creek, pulled her out of the water and partly concealed her body about six metres from the creek -- using whatever was in the area to do so -- before fleeing.
He either took her clothing with him or discarded it.
Investigators are awaiting the results of forensic testing to determine whether Ms. Wood was sexually assaulted. These tests and others will take days or weeks to complete.
Police said yesterday they believe Ms. Wood died "shortly after she was last seen."
They wouldn't elaborate on this or any other details they released yesterday.
Ms. Wood left her family's Orl�ans home about noon on Aug. 6 for a 90-minute bike ride on the parkways of east Ottawa. When she didn't return, her family notified police.
After a massive police and civilian search, her body was found by an Ontario Provincial Police officer on Aug. 11, next to Green's Creek, close to where the waterway empties into the Ottawa River.
After her disappearance, several people came forward saying a man had been approaching women on the paths in the area. There are also witnesses who report that a woman matching Ms. Wood's description had been seen walking with a man -- depicted in a composite sketch released by police -- around the time she disappeared.
"There are witnesses that are sure they saw her and this man very close together at the time she disappeared," Staff-Sgt. Monique Ackland said.
Police have been flooded with tips from the public. From roughly 2,000 calls, police have created a list of more than 200 names of men people think look like the one in the sketch. After interviewing these people, more than 140 have been cleared. Police will not say how many men have been interviewed and not cleared.
Meanwhile, one of North America's leading criminal profilers said Ms. Wood's killer probably lives close to where she was killed and is still in the area.
Pat Brown, whose book, Killing for Sport: Inside the Minds of Serial Killers, is considered a definitive source on random killers, says suspects in such crimes, especially young ones like the suspect in Ms. Wood's death, are almost always locals.
"These guys don't usually bother to go far away," Ms. Brown said. "They do these things in areas they know. They wait for an opportunity. It's very unlikely this is a guy from out of town or was passing through."
Ms. Brown added that most random killers have meager finances and would not have the means to move after committing a crime. Instead, they generally lie low until the hype surrounding the crime blows over.
"Generally, these guys move only because they lose their jobs or are kicked out of where they are living," Ms. Brown said.
She said in random killing investigations such as this, it's important for police to release as much usable detail about the case to the public as possible, so people can compare the variables to people they know.
"The key isn't to just get tips," said Ms. Brown, who was one of the only people to suggest that last year's Washington sniper shooting might not be the work of a white man acting alone. "The key is to get useful tips, and people need useful information if they are to provide useful information to police."
The suspect in Ms. Wood's killing is described as white with a good tan, about 22 years old, 5-foot-11, with a muscular, lean build and short, sandy hair. Anyone with information for police can call 236-1222 ext. 3563 or 3564.