One of the largest investigations in Ottawa's history moved into high gear yesterday as every available detective in the city pursued the tips that poured into police headquarters concerning the slaying of Ardeth Wood.
While investigators chased hundreds of leads, pathologists in Toronto conducted an autopsy on Ms. Wood's body. It revealed information "that pushes the investigation forward," said Ottawa police major crime Staff Sgt. Randy Whisker.
At the same time, Ottawa police forensic specialists performed a centimetre-by-centimetre search along the banks of Green's Creek, where Ms. Wood's body was found.
Staff Sgt. Whisker said members of the public had phoned in roughly 300 leads. "We are following up on all information coming in to us, and are doing everything we can to bring this guy in," he said.
Many of the tipsters told police they recognize the man pictured in the composite sketch released Tuesday by police in connection with the slaying of the 27-year-old philosophy student. The man is considered a suspect in the case; his composite sketch also bears significant similarities to the one released by police in connection with a series of sexual assaults earlier this summer in Blossom Park.
With so many leads to track, police called in every available detective -- officers who normally investigate fraud, car thefts and sexual assaults -- to assist the major crime officers who are leading the investigation.
Meanwhile, one day after learning that Ms. Wood would never come home, her family prayed together at St. Clement's Church. An intimate mass was said by Ms. Wood's uncle, Rev. William Ashley.
Father Ashley said Ardeth's mother, Catherine, prayed for the killer to come forward and surrender himself to police.
"I want everyone to know that I have no hatred whatsoever for the person or person who did this," he quoted his sister as saying.
In an interview with the Citizen, Ms. Wood's brother, Crispin, appealed for volunteers to help police canvass homes in the neighbourhoods near Green's Creek, where Ms. Wood's body was discovered. Police want to show the composite sketch of the suspect to as many people in the area as possible in hopes of picking up new information about the man or his movements on the day that Ms. Wood disappeared.
More than 40 people volunteered to help police canvass the neighbourhoods of Green's Creek, Orl�ans, Beacon Hill and Blackburn Hamlet yesterday afternoon. (Volunteers can register on the grounds of the Aviation Museum.)
"The searching part is over," Crispin Wood said, "but until we find out who abducted or murdered my sister, I guess we won't have any closure until then.
"I'm just hoping that he'll come out and do the right thing and turn himself in."
Ms. Wood went missing a week ago today after leaving her family's Orl�ans home around noon for a bicycle ride along the parkways in Ottawa's east end. She told her mother she would be back in an hour and a half.
After a huge search involving hundreds of volunteers, the Waterloo University PhD student's concealed body was found Monday afternoon by a police officer on the banks of Green's Creek near where it joins the Ottawa River.
A day earlier, a police diver found her bicycle in the creek.
Staff Sgt. Whisker said last night that so far the search of the crime scene, involving dozens of officers, has not yielded a breakthrough piece of evidence.
Police would not give details about the results of the autopsy performed in Toronto yesterday. There were signs of trauma on Ms. Wood's body, which had also been concealed along the river bank, confirming her death as a homicide.
Forensic tests are also expected to determine whether Ms. Wood was sexually assaulted.
For a number of reasons, police are releasing very little information about the cause of death or the condition of her body "to protect the integrity of their investigation," said lead detective Sgt. Gerry Kinnear.
The police want to maintain the ability to question possible suspects effectively. If details of the killing and the state of her body were in the public domain, detectives wouldn't be able to catch a suspect saying things only the killer could know, police said.
"Until we have an arrest, it's very important that things are held back for investigative purposes," Staff Sgt. Whisker said.
He added that police are looking at several other incidents in the area, on both sides of the Ottawa River, that could have been the work of the same person who killed Ms. Wood.
Criminal profilers agree that this kind of act would almost certainly not be the first attack he committed. Instead, they say it's most likely the culmination of a series of escalating and increasingly violent incidents.
The composite sketch released by police is based on several reports of suspicious activity in the area of Ms. Wood's disappearance. One witness reportedly told police they saw a woman matching Ms. Wood's description walking towards bushes with a man on the afternoon that she disappeared.
Police are confident this man holds the answers to what happened to Ms. Wood. They're asking anyone who believes they know the suspect to contact them.
The man is described as white with a good tan, roughly 22-years-old, 5-foot-11, with a muscular lean build and short sandy hair. He has been seen wearing black shorts, grey shirt and riding a bicycle.
He has also been seen without a shirt at times. Anyone with information can call 236-1222 Ext. 3563 or 3564 or Crimestoppers at 233-8477 or 1-800-222-8477.
As Ottawa police continue their hunt for the killer, the city's two largest school boards say it is too early to consider special precautions for the start of the school year, Sept. 2.
"Based upon the situation as it currently stands," said Maggie Melenhorst, spokeswoman for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, "we would institute the same vigilance we normally do in a case like this."
Staff will share all information the police deem appropriate with students to protect them from dangerous individuals, she said. This could involve such measures as posting photographs of suspects in schools and sending letters home to parents, alerting them to the situation.
As well, she noted, playgrounds are supervised during recess. Schools have walkie talkies and direct radio access to critical response leaders and police.
A Mass for Ms. Wood will be held Friday at the Roman Catholic Community of Divine Infant Parish in Orl�ans this Friday at 11:45 a.m. For more information, call 824-6882.