Hamilton police say the common-law boyfriend of a missing Ontario woman has been charged after human remains found at a landfill were confirmed to be hers.
Det. Sgt. Daryl Reid said on June 20 DNA analysis determined that the human remains were those of Shalini Singh, 40. He made the announcement at a news conference on Monday in Hamilton.
Since Feb. 24, police had been looking through the Glanbrook Landfill site in Caledonia, Ont., near Hamilton for any signs of Singh. On May 21, partial human remains were located during their search.
Reid said on the day the Centre of Forensic Sciences confirmed the human remains belonged to Singh, police arrested 42-year-old Jeffrey Smith — her common-law partner.
Smith was arrested in Burlington, Ont., in a parking lot. He is charged with second-degree murder and indignity to human remains.
Singh was last seen by family and friends at around 7:10 p.m. on Dec. 4, 2024. She was reported missing by her concerned family members about a week later on Dec. 10, police previously said.
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“As the investigation unfolded, evidence suggested that Shalini Singh was the victim of foul play and may have been removed from her building by way of the garbage disposal system,” Reid said on Monday.
Investigators said that at the time of her disappearance, Singh was living with her common-law boyfriend at a downtown Hamilton apartment building.
Reid said the two were together for five to seven years. Smith was known to police for previous incidents before Singh disappeared but police were “never called in their affairs at all,” Reid said.
Singh’s boyfriend was also reported missing at the same time but was found on Dec. 11 after going to a family member’s home outside of Hamilton in Halton Region, police said.
Police said they searched their building several times and combed through hours of the building’s surveillance videos from 40 cameras. The videos were used to trace Singh and her boyfriend’s movements in the days around her disappearance, police said.
They noted that there is no CCTV footage showing Singh leaving her building after Dec. 4. She was last seen entering the apartment on Dec. 2.
When asked by a reporter if police believe Smith acted alone, Reid said no, and that they are not looking for any other suspects.
Reid said the landfill search will continue for the week and is expected to be completed by June 27. He described it as “a horrible environment to be searching in.”
“Officers are exposed to all of those elements there. The heat this week is going to make it extremely difficult for them,” he said.
“This is not only about resolving an investigation, but it’s about giving answers to a family who have waited a very long time to get to this point.”
Reid said the family has already been notified of the development in the case.
“It’s still a shock to them to get the confirmation.”
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