According to Sherbrooke police chief Danny McConnell, the body was initially believed to be a silicone dummy that had caught fire on the edge of a wooded area near a Cabana St. factory on the morning of July 23. After discussions between police and firefighters, it was decided the best way to dispose of the mannequin was by putting it into a dumpster behind the police station that was not accessible to the public.
Four hours later, a man reported the disappearance of his partner. Police tracked her cell phone and found her vehicle near the scene of the fire. The woman’s description matched that of the supposed mannequin.
Police, noting the coincidence, decided at 6:30 p.m. to check the dumpster and discovered the mannequin was, in fact, a body.
Dr. Robert Nicholson explained that because the human body is composed of about 60 per cent water, it can lose a lot of weight if it is severely burned.
“So, a 150-pound person would be about 60 pounds,” Nicholson told CBC in an interview.
“If somebody is a burn victim and most of the water is gone, then there is nothing but the results of the burn. It doesn’t look like a normal person and it doesn’t feel like a normal person.”
