Remains found outside butcher shop not there long: police

A package of remains found behind a butcher shop in the city's east end was most likely there for a "very, very short time," according to Toronto police.

Police are waiting to hear from the coroner's office about whether or not the remains are human, Det.-Sgt. Terry Browne told reporters on Wednesday.

• Remains found in bag behind Toronto butcher shop may belong to a woman: police

Police have said the remains are a partial torso, not a complete body, and they believe that they may belong to a white female.

An employee at the butcher shop called police about the grisly discovery around 11:30 a.m. ET Tuesday, Browne said. The remains were found behind Charlie's Meat and Seafood, in the Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street East area, during a routine check of the premises.

"Like all businesses, they have normal steps that they follow, and while doing those steps they came across this item that they didn't anticipate finding," Browne said. "When they saw something they didn't anticipate finding, they were curious, examined it a little further and realized it was something not consistent with their line of business."

Browne would not confirm whether the remains were found in a bag or box, but said clothing was not found in the package.

"I wouldn't get into that because that would be something we would want to protect in the investigation, but certainly whoever transported this item did so with a means of concealing what they did, with what they were transporting," he said.

Browne said he suspects the remains were not outside the property for very long. It may have just been for hours, he said.

"I suspect that it would have been there a very, very short time frame," he said. "The shop they run here is pretty tight. They certainly would have reason to be coming back and forth to the back lot."

He said the remains were not in an advanced state of decomposition.

More body parts in area expected

If the remains are confirmed to be human, police will have to determine how the person died. Once the remains are identified, police could begin to construct a timeline of events to determine what led to the death.

They would check missing persons reports, find out when the person was last seen and with whom the person associated.

Members of the public are urged to contact police if they discover anything suspicious in the vicinity of the butcher shop.

"If you come across something, obviously, we don't want you to touch it. Give us a call right away and we will come and certainly examine what you have," he said.

"I would be surprised if there aren't more parts somewhere in the area."

Police are also asking for anyone who has not seen or heard from female members of their families for an abnormal amount of time to check on them. 

They're also asking for people in the area to look out for suspicious bags, boxes and body parts and to check their security cameras.