Body found, linked online to missing teen Poorman

By ANNE KYLE and JOE COUTURE, Leader-Post; with files from Barb Pacholik
April 20, 2009 8:2

REGINA — Police have not yet publicly identified the remains of a body found on Friday about half a block from where Tara-Lyn Poorman disappeared from a birthday party more than four months ago.

But on pages of social networking sites set up to promote the search for the missing 17-year-old, family and friends left posts over the weekend making a connection between the teen and the grisly discovery, and expressing hopes she will "rest in peace."

The creator of a Facebook group called "Finding Tara-Lyn Poorman," who identified himself as her brother Vance Kay, wrote "itz true she iz gone," along with an "RIP" for his "baby sis."

Similar posts were also available publicly on Twitter and Bebo pages.

Reached late on Sunday, Poorman's mother Shellyn Kay told the Leader-Post she had not received any official news and did not want to comment further.

Kay said she "didn't know what was going on" with the social website posts, adding she had not spoken to Vance.

Calls to others in Poorman's family and those who have spoken publicly about her disappearance in the past were not returned over the weekend.

Poorman was last seen at a residence in the 400 block of Halifax Street in December.

Police and her family have both offered rewards for her return.

The decomposing body of a woman was found Friday in the 300 block of Osler Street.

The body is believed to have been at a location in a yard in that area, hidden under a pile of snow, for some time, according to the Regina Police Service.

"We are continuing our investigation into a suspicious death in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Coroner,'' police spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich told the Leader-Post Saturday.

Popowich said police were dispatched to the rear of the backyard of an Osler Street house just before 7:45 p.m. on Friday after receiving information of a person injured or deceased.

Police and emergency medical services attended the area and confirmed that an unidentified woman found in the backyard was deceased.

"Patrol members secured the area and requested members of the forensic identifications and major crimes units to attend,'' Popowich said, explaining investigators were at the scene for most of Saturday and will continue to secure the area as a crime scene until police have more information as to the cause and manner of the woman's death.

"We are continuing that investigation," she said. "It is being considered a suspicious death and the coroner will order any post-mortem procedures requested. We are also in the process of confirming the identity of the deceased, and once that is confirmed, we will then will notify the woman's family.''

Investigators have said it appears the deceased body was at that location for some time and for that reason identifying the deceased will take some time, Popowich said, noting that won't likely happen until after the weekend.

"In the province of Saskatchewan, we know there are many families who have a missing person in their family," Popowich said on Saturday. "So the discovery of a deceased person before an identity is confirmed must start an agonizing period of waiting for all of those families and it is very, very difficult.

"We can't speculate on the identify of the deceased," continued Popowich, who refused to comment Sunday on the social website postings about Poorman.

"We have to know it through fact and we have to confirm it. As difficult as it is for people to wait for those answers, it is our duty to deal in fact," she said.

akyle@leaderpost.canwest.com

jcouture@leaderpost.canwest.com

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