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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Missing mom ID'd as body parts victim

Torontonian's remains found in waterways

By: Linda Nguyen

Posted: 08/22/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Toronto police handout / The Canadian Press Guang Hua Liu, 41, was last seen by friends on Aug. 10. (CP)

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Body parts found scattered in Toronto-area waterways belonged to a single mother of three, police in Ontario said Tuesday.

Guang Hua Liu, 41, was last seen by friends late in the afternoon on Aug. 10 as they dropped her off in front of her recently defunct spa in east Toronto, Peel Regional Police said at a news conference.

Friends reported her missing the next day and on Aug. 15, her right foot was found in the Credit River in Mississauga, about 45 kilometres west of where she lived in east-end Toronto.

Liu's head and hands were later discovered in the river in the Hewick Meadows Park area. Over the weekend, two calves, a thigh and an arm were found in West Highland Creek in east-end Toronto.

Forensic tests have determined all of those remains belonged to Liu, but police still do not know how she died. Toronto police had issued a news release on Aug. 14 about Liu being missing.

She had three children; one is an adult and the other two live with their father, Insp. George Koekkoek said.

Investigators are treating the case as a homicide, and while they are not yet speaking about suspects, they say at this point, they don't believe there are other victims.

"We have no reason to believe that this is anything other than an isolated case and that's the focus of our investigation thus far," Koekkoek said.

"We're satisfied to this stage that there's no threat or danger to the public safety. If we have information to the contrary we'll be the first to advise."

A woman with a Toronto landlord firm that rented business space to Liu said she was the owner of a "holistic therapy" spa called Forget Me Not.

Liu signed a month-by-month agreement with Hanson Development Group in May and received a business licence in the same month, said the woman, who asked not to be identified.

"She was very nice and quiet... (she'd) come in, hand in June and July rent cheques, say 'Thank you' -- that's it," the woman said, adding Liu spoke to her with the assistance of a translator.

The woman said Liu had paid rent for August but not for September. She said nearby tenants saw police at the spa Monday.

Liu was a Canadian citizen of Chinese descent, Koekkoek said. Neither she nor her business were known to police, he said.

Investigators have executed several search warrants, but those searches did not turn up any more body parts, Koekkoek said.

Police have finished searching the Credit River area, and Toronto police are expected to wrap up their search near West Highland Creek today.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 22, 2012 A7

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