This is the section of the Niagara River where a woman's torso was found by tourists Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012. Tourists discovered the body floating in the river between the Rainbow Bridge and the Maid of the Mist tour boat docks. (MIKE DIBATTISTA/QMI AGENCY)

NIAGARA FALLS, ONT. - Police are expanding their search for clues in relation to last week’s discovery of a woman’s torso in the Niagara River.

At 9 a.m. Wednesday, Niagara Regional Police officers began a further ground and water search beginning from King’s Bridge Park in Chippawa, south to Fort Erie.

Officers will be searching the water’s edge as well as the river for any more clues.

An initial search effort that ended Saturday had focused on the area from the Niagara Whirlpool to King’s Bridge Park.

Police spokesman Derek Watson said the decision to expand the search is not as a result of any new tips.

“We are just expanding the search to see if we can get any more leads,” he said.

Police are continuing to ask the public to forward any tips. Canadian officials are working with New York State Police, which is currently reviewing missing-persons cases.

On Tuesday, police said they have ruled out the “vast majority” of missing-persons cases they have reviewed across Canada.

Insp. Jim McCaffery said investigators looked into around 50 cases that matched the description of the victim, but most have not led police any closer to identifying the torso found near the Rainbow Bridge.

“There are a couple we still need to clear, but we’re satisfied the vast majority of them do not meet the parameters,” McCaffery said.

Post-mortem results indicated the victim was a middle-aged, white female with a “closed off” pierced navel. It’s believed she was between 31 and 55 years of age and she had two caesarian sections.

matt.day@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @Matt_Review