Police tight-lipped about body found in northwest Winnipeg

Police in Winnipeg have released little information about their investigation into the discovery on Thursday of a body in a field in the northwest corner of the city.

The police identification and homicide units and the coroner's officeleft the scene of the discovery on Mollard Road and Ritchie Street Friday morning.

Police have not released any information on the age, race, sex or possible identity of the body, saying only that the circumstances of the death are "suspicious."

The area of open fields and few houses has often been the scene of grisly discoveries.

Another body, that of Roxanne Fernando, 24, was found in March very close to the samespot. Three people face charges in her death.

The body ofAynsley Aurora Kinch, 35,was found in June, just a few kilometres away. Police are still looking for a suspect in her death.

In December 2002, the decomposed body of Therena Silva, 36,was discovered by a man running his dog in the area. She had been last seen the previous April. No arrests have been made in her case.

It's too early to say if there is any connection between those cases and this one, or to say whether police will increase patrols in the area, Const.Jacqueline Chaput said Friday.

"I know that there is some speculation about the number of instances that we've had there," she said.

"In this particular situation, we have yet to ascertain what happened and what the circumstances are surrounding the death. We have yet to confirm as to whether it's a homicide or not. There's a lot of things that we need to confirm."

Chaput would not say if an autopsy would be performed Friday.Police do not plan to release any further information on the case until at least Tuesday, she said.

'You get kind of used to it'

Allen Dalton, who lives on a farm close to the area where the body was found, describes the area as a dumping ground.

"You get kind of used to it, unfortunately," he said."[I've] been living out here for years and there's cars burnt, there's garbage dropped off, there's murders."

He's not sure there's much police could do to prevent the problem.

"If they patrol here more, they're just going to move, find another spot a few miles down the road or dump the vehicles on the other side of the city," he said.

"If someone is going to get hurt or steal a vehicle, they're going to end up somewhere."