Body in Pointe aux Trembles; Natasha Cournoyer was last seen near Laval office parking lot Thursday night
They think they found the body of Natasha Cournoyer. She disappeared off the island of Montreal and the body was found in Montreal's East End. Michèle Ouimet who writes for La Presse and is always good has a good story on Cournoyer.
"Major crimes investigators believe a woman's body found Tuesday next to a dirt road in Pointe aux Trembles is that of Natasha Cournoyer, a Laval resident who disappeared Thursday, three police sources familiar with the investigation said yesterday.
As of early this morning, investigators had not been able to confirm the victim's identity. Laval police, who are probing Cournoyer's disappearance, were called in to assist.
One person who could help identify Cournoyer, 37, was brought to the scene shortly after the body was discovered, just before noon yesterday.
"Investigators from Laval are here. Why? It is a possibility it is the woman from Laval. But that can't be confirmed until we identify the body," Montreal police Constable Anie Lemieux said.
"They were called here to help (supply) our investigators with a good description. If it is (Cournoyer), they will assist and we'll do the investigation together."
Lemieux said a doctor with Urgences Santé declared the woman dead at the scene.
City of Montreal employees on a break found the body, a police officer familiar with the investigation said. A red city van could be seen parked less than seven metres from the crime scene, which was just off an unpaved road leading to a boat launch on the shore of the St. Lawrence River, in a brush-covered area near the intersection of Notre Dame St. E. and 36th Ave.
The dirt road is frequently used by drug dealers and stolen cars are often abandoned there, said a nearby resident, who spoke on the condition that his name would not be published.
The man said he has twice witnessed someone practising their aim by firing a handgun last winter.
"It's like hell, a real garbage dump. I'm not surprised at all that a dead body was found there," he said.
Cournoyer, an employee with Correctional Service of Canada, was last seen about 8 p.m. Thursday as she left Place Laval, the office building where she worked.
Surveillance cameras recorded her heading for the parking lot next to the building, on St. Martin Blvd. E., at the corner of des Laurentides Blvd. Her car was found parked at the far end of the lot Friday.
According to her boyfriend, Michel Trottier, 32, Cournoyer split her time between a home in Piedmont and an apartment they shared in Old Montreal.
Trottier said he believed Cournoyer was abducted Thursday night. He said the last time he spoke to her was at 5 p.m. Thursday; she said she was planning to work late.
Cournoyer was supposed to meet her mother in Anjou on Friday but never showed up.
While Laval police searched for Cournoyer this week, they said they did not believe her disappearance was related to her work.
Laval police Constable Natalie Lorrain said yesterday evening they had yet to receive confirmation that the body found in Pointe aux Trembles is Cournoyer's.
Investigators would continue to search a part of Laval where Cournoyer's cellphone was used after she vanished, Lorrain said.
pcherry@thegazette.canwest.com
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posted by John Allore @ 10/07/2009 07:43:00 AM
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