 Babak Ghanad (left) is wanted in the slaying of Margarita Shumakova (right).
|
TORONTO - The hunt is on for a 35-year-old drifter believed to have killed a Toronto teen and dumped her body at the side of a gravel road near Uxbridge, Ont.
After two weeks of "working around the clock," Durham homicide detectives have released the name and a photo of a man who was allegedly behind the mysterious slaying of Margarita Shumakova, 18.
Babak Ghanad, of no fixed address, is wanted for first-degree murder in the North York, Ont., girl's death.
How, when and where the teen was killed is unclear because detectives remain tight-lipped.
"I would suggest our investigators are well aware of what happened and what caused her death, they're just choosing not to say," police spokesman Sgt. Nancy van Rooy said Thursday.
With the suspect "still at large," she said detectives likely don't want to jeopardize their case.
Van Rooy was unable to say if the murder was random, if Ghanad knew Shumakova or if others could be at risk.
"I don't know anything about him," she said of the accused. "But if he has committed first-degree murder, then there's always a chance he could do it again."
Shumakova, who moved to Canada from Kazakhstan with her mom about seven years ago, disappeared over the Canada Day weekend. She was last seen July 3 by a friend outside a nightclub in the Toronto's Entertainment District around 1 a.m.
Her decomposing body was found five days later in the woods at the side of the road, south of Uxbridge.
Ghanad could be anywhere at this point "but it's assumed he has left Durham Region," Van Rooy said.
Staring at the accused killer's photo, Isys McCoy could only shudder as she imagined the many ways her longtime friend could have met her demise.
Although they had drifted apart in recent years, the flight attendant said it seemed odd that Shumakova would have known a man twice her age.
"Maybe he offered her a drive home or something," McCoy speculated. "I really don't know."
On a dating and meeting website, Hi5, Ghanad claims to be from Hamilton, Ont. But on Facebook, he describes himself as being from Mashhad, Iran, and living in Toronto.
Anyone who knows Ghanad, or has information on his whereabouts, is urged to contact detectives at 1-888-579-1520, ext. 5247 or 5319, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477).
Police ask anyone who knows Ghanad to call the homicide squad at 1-888-579-1520 and ask for either extension 5247 or 5319. Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.durhamregionalcrimestoppers.ca.
-- With files by Rob Lamberti
chris.doucette@sunmedia.ca
