Family members and Ontario Provincial Police made an appeal for information Thursday in the triple murder outside London, Ont. of three close friends – one of whom was pregnant.
“I would ask that anyone out there in the public, in the communities, call our tip lines if they have any information about these tragic deaths,” Detective Inspector Peter Liptrott said at a news conference hosted by Six Nations of the Grand River.
The bodies of 37-year-old Melissa Trudy Miller, 33-year-old Alan Grant Porter and 32-year-old Michael Shane Jamieson were found with a grey pickup truck in a field on a private property in the municipality of Middlesex Centre at around 10 a.m. on Nov. 04.
Police said Thursday that Miller and Porter were cousins and Porter and Jamieson were described by family members as “inseparable friends.”
All three victims were residents of the Six Nations of the Grand River, a First Nations reserve just outside of Hamilton.
Police revealed Thursday that Miller was seven months pregnant with a baby boy when she was killed.
At the news conference, Trevor Miller urged anyone with information about his sister’s killing to come forward.
“Please anybody if you know something, just come forth,” he said
Clutching a picture of his sister and speaking through tears, he became emotional and had to leave the news conference.
Speaking for the Porter and Jamieson families, family member Jock Porter urged anyone with information to come forward.
“There’s somebody out there who knows more than they’ve told officers, so give that information,” he said. “We’re a people of justice and law and order, respect.”
He said the children of the victims “deserve justice.”
Sherri-Lyn Hill Pierce of the Six Nations Band Council also spoke and called the case “devastating.”
“We need help to find the killers. Please step forward,” Hill Pierce said.
She said the killing of the three close friends has shaken her community.
“Not only the families are suffering, but it’s a rippling effect for the whole community,” Hill Pierce said.
Investigators wouldn’t say when the victims died or how they were killed. They also said they don’t know how the victims came to be found in the field southwest of London, Ont., about 150 kilometres west of the community where they lived.
No suspects have been announced so far and no arrests have been made in the case.
However police said they have been receiving information to their tip line and they are confident that someone knows something that could help investigators solve the murders.
The grey, 2006 Chevy Silverado pick-up truck found with the bodies was stolen, police said. Investigators would not say where or when the car was reported stolen, but appealed for anyone who saw the vehicle on Six Nations of the Grand River, in the area of Bodkin Road, or anywhere in between to call police.
“I can’t stress enough how important it is for anyone with information to bring it forward to us for investigation,” Acting Deputy Chief Darren Montour of the Six Nations Police Service said.
He said police are looking to speak with anyone who has information about the three victims in the days leading up to their deaths and stressed that no detail is too small.
“Help us help Al, Mike and Melissa. I understand people are reluctant to come forward, but we need you, this community needs you,” Montour said.
Investigators have set up a tip line for anyone who has information about the case: 1-844-677-5050
