ORO-MEDONTE TWP. -- Provincial police have confirmed human remains found at a Barrie-area golf course last week belong to Mandy Thompson.
“The investigation is complete and foul play is not suspected in the death of Mandy Thompson,” OPP Sgt. Peter Leon said Tuesday evening.
The 72-year-old Barrie woman suffered from dementia and had been missing since Feb. 3, 2017.
A grainy video image showed the Laidlaw Drive resident walking northbound on Penetanguishene Road later that morning.
Police searches for Thompson extended into Oro-Medonte Township, including air and ground searches along Line 1, Gore Road and Penetanguishene Road.
A group of hunters called authorities last week, the morning of Feb. 28, after finding human remains at Heritage Hills Golf Club, located on Line 1 of Oro-Medonte Township at Gore Road.
Upon arrival at the scene last week, police confirmed the remains were human. However, due to buildup of snow and ice in the area, a controlled process was required to slowly thaw out the underlying ground and melt the snow with an enclosed tent and portable heaters.
Since that time, the Barrie-Orillia OPP crime unit has worked closely with the detectives from the Barrie city police homicide unit, which also co-ordinates missing persons cases, to identify the deceased.
On Friday, a forensic anthropologist attended the scene and co-ordinated the removal of the remains, which were then transported to the Office of the Chief Coroner and Forensic Pathology Service for a forensic post-mortem examination, which positively identified them as belonging to Thompson.
She was reported missing to Barrie police and was the subject of an extensive and exhaustive search for a number of weeks following her disappearance.
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