Police have identified a Toronto woman who was found dead in Derrydowns Park with multiple stab wounds yesterday.
A woman walking in the park, in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood, discovered the body half-submerged in a stream at around 12:45 p.m. on Aug. 19 and called police.
The 31-year-old victim, identified Sunday as Virgil Jack, was declared dead at the scene.
An autopsy was partly completed Sunday and revealed that Jack suffered multiple penetrating wounds, investigators said.
Speaking with reporters, Det. Terry Browne said police are concerned that “this is a particularly violent act” and he urged anyone who saw or heard anything to contact investigators.
He said Jack was last seen by friends and family between 2:30 and 3 p.m. on Friday.
“We’re trying to figure out where Miss Jack went in and around 2:30 p.m. and who she planned to meet,” Browne said.
He said that while Jack sometimes went out on Friday nights, she always returned home.
Security camera images of Jack from Friday show her wearing clothes similar to those she was wearing when her body was discovered Saturday – camouflage type leggings, a multi-coloured shirt, skechers running shoes and a light green or turquoise ball cap.
It’s not yet clear whether she was murdered in the park or if her body was taken there after she was dead, but Browne said police are eager to speak with any potential witnesses.
“We think for someone to have inflicted those type of injuries, if it occurred in this area, we think someone would have heard or seen something,” he said.
Browne said a set of tire tracks were found near the entrance of the park in a place where one wouldn’t expect to find tire marks.
“It appears as though someone was in a hurry to leave very very quickly,” he said.
He said the person driving that vehicle also appears to have hit a curb and there may be significant damage to the undercarriage of the vehicle.
Jack lived in the Keele and Finch area, not far from the park where she was found. She was living with a roommate and a sister who was visiting from outside the country and neither had any information that she was planning to meet anyone, Browne said.
Jack was newly married last fall, though her husband lives outside of canada. Browne said some people might know her by her married name “Jordan.”
According to Browne, the 31-year-old had a fulltime job and lived a quiet lifestyle and her violent death leaves many questions unanswered.
“It’s extremely violent. Obviously we have great concern that whoever did this is still out there,” he said.
Investigators are urging anyone who saw Jack after 2:30 p.m. Friday or anyone who spotted any suspicious activity in the area to contact investigators at 416-808-7400 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
