OTTAWA -- On a hot summer day along Ottawa's greenbelt yesterday, cyclists rode past yellow police tape where a bouquet of flowers sat propped under a missing-person poster of a young woman named Ardeth Wood.
A week ago today, Ms. Wood went for a bike ride alone. She never came home.
Police are looking for a man they believe killed the 27-year-old university student, whose body was discovered Monday after a six-day search.
Her bicycle was found several days earlier in a nearby creek.
Police and officials for the National Capital Commission -- which oversees 170 kilometres of recreational pathways -- are warning women in Ottawa not to cycle or jog alone in light of the death, which has shaken city residents.
"It's really tragic," said Yvonne Malbasha, a 41-year-old paramedic who was part of the search team and was cycling past the crime scene near the Ottawa River on the Rockcliffe Parkway yesterday.
"It really has hit close to home. I don't feel unsafe, but it will be a while before I go near the river," Ms. Malbasha said, explaining that while she will not avoid the pathways, she will steer clear of the area along the river where Ms. Wood's body was found.
Ms. Malbasha joined hundreds of others in the search for Ms. Wood.
The University of Waterloo PhD student and aspiring philosophy professor was in Ottawa visiting her parents when went on the bike ride.
"It's an eerie feeling and very sad," said Joanne Hall, 44, who was riding with her friend, Patty Sheahan, past the spot where Ms. Wood's body was found.
"It's a big loss. She was just going for a bike ride," said Ms. Sheahan, 48.
Perhaps even more disturbing is the revelation that many women have called police to report that they were approached while cycling in the same area by a man resembling the suspect.
Copies of a composite sketch of the man with close-cropped hair and sunglasses are posted at the crime scene.
Witnesses told police that a tall, lean man in his early 20s with sandy hair and a dark tan was seen in the area with Ms. Wood the day she disappeared.
Since the suspect's description was released, investigators have received more than 100 calls, including tips from women who said they also were approached by a man matching the description and who tried to engage them in conversation as they rode their bikes along the pathway. The man was also on a bike.
Investigators said none reported the man earlier because at the time they did not think he was a threat.
"Such a case has never been seen in Ottawa," Ottawa Police Staff Sergeant Monique Ackland said. "It's just a random act. That's what's so shocking."
Police could not say yesterday how Ms. Wood died or whether she was sexually assaulted.
Hundreds of volunteers searched for her before the discoveries of her bike and body.
Her parents, Catherine and Brenden Wood, and younger brothers, Colum and Crispin, started the search hours after she went missing.
Ms. Wood's friends at the University of Waterloo plan a memorial service in her honour.
"She was a fairly shy person but very friendly once you got to know her," said fellow graduate student Christine Freeman-Roth. "She was very smart and studious."
Officials for the National Capital Commission have increased security patrols of the extensive pathways, spokesman Guy Laflamme said.
About 500,000 people use the pathways yearly.
"This is an exceptional situation. We are taking exceptional measures to deal with it and to deal with public safety."
Ms. Hall said she will not cycle alone in the area and will carry a cell phone.
"There are safety precautions, unfortunately, in this day and age, that women must take," she said.
"I hope they catch the guy and people won't be intimidated to come here. The trail is a treasured jewel."