After months of searching at a massive garbage dump, Toronto police have located the body of a 57-year-old man who they believe was murdered this past winter.

Nathaniel Brettell was last seen at his home in the Westona Street and Dixon Road area in Etobicoke back on Jan. 21, 2021.

Officers investigating his disappearance went to his home on Feb. 2 and were attacked by an assailant with a butcher knife.

Police charged 34-year-old Ahmed Al-Farkh in connection with that incident. In May, police also charged Al-Farkh with second-degree murder in connection with Brettell’s death.

Officers searching the missing man’s apartment found blood and concluded he had been murdered, but they did not find a body.

In June, police announced that they would begin searching the Green Lane Landfill, Toronto’s main waste management site located about 200 kilometres outside of the city in Southwold, Ont.

On Thursday CTV News Toronto learned that Brettell’s body was located last week.

“The Toronto Police will not stop in their pursuit of evidence and the recovery of people for their family as they investigate these criminal acts,” Detective Sergeant Keri Fernandes told the station.

Fernandes said the search involved hundreds of officers and multiple units – the largest of its kind in the Toronto’s history.  

According to police, meticulous records kept by the city’s solid waste management system allowed investigators to zero in on the likely location of Brettell’s remains at the massive waste site, which receives about 50 truckloads of trash per day.

Police have not said how they knew his body was at the dump.

Brettell’s family has said that he lived with Asperger’s syndrome and other disabilities, that he was bullied and that he “didn’t deserve” the ending he got.

They said Thursday that the discovery of his body brings some measure of peace for the family, who will now be able to hold a proper funeral for him.

“In the sense that he’s been found, it gives me peace,” Brettell’s sister, Lois Brettell, told CTV News Toronto. “I’m thankful that my brother’s remains have been found because it gives me closure.”

She said she’s hopeful that the discovery of her brother’s body will help bring about justice in his case.

“Now that they have a body they will be able to properly prosecute the person who has been charged in my brother’s death,” she said.

The charges have not yet been tested in court.

Former Toronto homicide detective Mark Mendelson told CTV News Thursday that the chances of finding a body at such a large waste site in previous times would have been “infinitesimal” and that improved record-keeping was likely key.

“It’s essentially looking for a needle in a haystack. It’s not an easy job. The mere fact they’ve found a body is miraculous,” Mendelson said.

“It’s huge, many acres in size, and it’s very deep. As they plow over the garbage it gets higher and higher and you don’t know how deep you have to go.”

-          With files from CTV News Toronto’s Jon Woodward