One year has passed since the bones of a young girl were discovered in a garbage outside an under-construction house in Toronto’s upscale Rosedale neighborhood, and her identity remains unknown. Since then, investigators have conducted interviews and issued public calls for information in the Dale Avenue area, north of Castle Frank Station. They’ve provided a description and composite sketch of the youngster, as well as genetic genealogy testing to see if her DNA matches any other children reported missing in North America.
Toronto police aren’t saying much right now and have denied demands for an interview and a written update. Now, members of the community are banding together to try to bring further attention to this perplexing case. According to Rev. Daniel Cho of the nearby Rosedale Presbyterian Church (RPC), the tragedy has left the neighborhood in shock, terror, and despair. “We usually assume (the police) will catch whoever is responsible,” he told CP24.com in a recent interview. “(This little girl) is a ghost, and she shouldn’t be.”
Cho, who was hired as the local church’s new minister just two weeks before the child’s remains were discovered and officially took his new post in July, said he knew he wanted to do something special with his new congregation to honor her from the day she was discovered. “I believe that no one should leave this earth without an identity, especially a child,” said Cho, who has prepared a one-year memorial service with several members of his church. The event will take place at Rosedale Presbyterian Church, 129 Mt. Pleasant Rd., on Saturday at 2 p.m.
“We really want to bring dignity to this child’s life, which is something she didn’t have in her death,” he said. “We want to change the story. We don’t want those to be the last remarks said about her.” Cho also expressed hope that the community coming together to commemorate this solemn occasion will help raise awareness about the case and, maybe, motivate someone with new information to come forward. For the past six months, RPC members have been arranging the one-year memorial. Congregant Michele Nidenoff made a one-of-a-kind artwork in the child’s likeness, while several others crocheted colorful scarves that participants will wear in honor of the blankets she was discovered wrapped in. Flyers asking everyone to attend have been distributed across the neighborhood.
Michelle Miller-Guillot, a long-time church member who is assisting with the planning, stated that the one-year memorial was created because this case “deserves to be solved.” “(This child) deserves to be remembered as more than just an unidentified girl whose remains were discovered in a dumpster,” she added. “This is an opportunity for the community, or anyone, to come together and remember.” We aim to throw new light on this case as well.”
Police from Toronto are slated to speak during Saturday’s event, which is open to the public. Insp. Hank Idsinga of the homicide and missing persons unit has previously stated that he will “leave no stone unturned” in his efforts to find out what happened to the little girl. So yet, all that is known about the youngster is that she was between the ages of four and seven. She was Black, of African or mixed African ancestry, with all her teeth and a slim physique, standing three feet six inches tall. Her black wavy hair was pulled back into four ponytails, two of which were braided and held in place with black and blue elastic bands.
According to police, the tiny girl’s bones were discovered wrapped in a colorful crocheted blanket and placed inside a bag that was wrapped in another blanket. Last spring, investigators stated that they suspect she died as recently as the summer or fall of 2021. They also stated that the child’s remains were thrown away between noon on April 28 and 4:45 p.m. on May 2, 2022. Following additional inquiry, police stated that it is “unlikely” that the small child had “ever been reported missing.”