Robert McGregor, 25, leaves the Peterborough courthouse Thursday morning, after appearing briefly to face a charge of first-degree murder in relation to the death of Joanne MacKenzie, 23. (QMI Agency / Sarah Deeth)

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. - It’s been six days since Joanne MacKenzie disappeared.

It’s been three days since police discovered a body north of Lakefield, Ont., and arrested her former common-law partner, Robert McGregor, for first-degree murder and obstruction of justice.

Investigators aren’t sharing many details of how MacKenzie,23, was killed, or what led them to arrest the father of her child for her murder.

McGregor made a brief appearance in bail court Thursday morning.

His lawyer, Trevor Burgess, adjourned the case to July 12, when McGregor is expected to appear by video remand.

MacKenzie was last seen Saturday morning in Peterborough.

QMI Agency has learned that she had recently returned to Peterborough to look for work after a job search in Apsley, Ont., failed to produce any results.

Jamie Lee Rowe has known MacKenzie since the victim was about seven or eight years old, when the family moved to Apsley from the Toronto area.

“She was an angel,” Rowe said. “Anyone who knew her was blessed to have known her.”

The family moved to Peterborough when MacKenzie was a teenager, she said, though MacKenzie moved back to Apsley at one point to live with her mother.

Rowe said MacKenzie was a “typical teenager,” but really turned her life around when she and McGregor had a daughter.

That child, she said, was everything to her.

“She was a really great mom,” Rowe said.

The past two days have been hard, she said, and everyone was hoping for a better outcome.

Jamie Trude said he met MacKenzie through friends a few years ago.

Her death, he said, has shocked everyone close to her.

MacKenzie was the kind of person who could make you smile the minute you saw her, he said.

“She was a big family girl,” he said.

Trude said he learned of her death Tuesday night.

He carved her nickname, “Jo-Jo,” into a candle, took it to the edge of a lake and let it burn throughout the night.

It’s difficult, he said, but her family and friends are incredibly close and supporting each other.

Though the outcome is tragic, he said, there is some closure in knowing that MacKenzie is no longer missing.

“I’m just glad she’s found,” he said.

Police have cordoned off an area near Young’s Point Rd. at Preston Rd., and said human remains have been found in the area.

OPP Communications Insp. Dave Ross said investigators are still waiting the results of a post-mortem to determine the cause of death.

He said police also still have to make a positive identification of the body found near Young’s Point Rd.

Police will be releasing more information once it becomes available, he said, so long as it doesn’t interfere with the court case or the investigation.

Ross stressed that the investigation is still in its early stages. He couldn’t speculate on whether more arrests were expected.

City police and OPP held a joint press conference Thursday afternoon.

OPP Const. Iain McEwan said police were maintaining two separate crime scenes in that area of Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield Township.

One of those scenes included a property where there's a bungalow-style house.

McEwan could not say how the house may be involved in the investigation, or even how MacKenzie arrived in Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield Township.

He said police couldn’t even confirm that the body found was that of MacKenzie.

City police initially began the investigation into MacKenzie’s disappearance Saturday, city police Insp. Tim Farquharson said.

Uniform officers began canvassing the area, looking for her.

When she still hadn’t turned up by Monday morning the service’s criminal investigations branch took over.

Things started to change Tuesday, at 12:30 p.m., he said.

“We started to gather evidence that there was something criminal that had taken place,” he said.

There was also some indication that MacKenzie had travelled outside city limits, and Farquharson said they decided to call in the OPP.

“If there’s any feeling at all that this person has left our jurisdiction, we call the OPP,” he said.

That increased the resources available to police, he said, and it also brought the provincial police on board during the earliest stages of the investigation.

Farquharson said it’s likely police wouldn't have discovered what happened without the help from both agencies.

Both services are still working the case, though the OPP have taken the lead on the criminal prosecution.

Farquharson said at least 27 officers have been involved in the case since MacKenzie was first reported missing.