A 26-year-old man was arrested Saturday in connection with the disappearance with Ahuntsic mother Cinthia Toussaint Saturday, shortly after the body of a black woman was found in a sewer in nearby St. Michel.
Police won't confirm if the corpse found a block from the site of Toussaint's disappearance Monday belongs to the young woman. The identity of the body will be confirmed in a week and a half, following the coroner's autopsy.
A woman spotted the corpse inside a sewer in a parking lot at the corner of Louvain St. E and Papineau Ave. in St. Michel. at 9:50 a.m. and called police.
"When (police) got to the scene, they determined that it was indeed a human body, so the major crimes unit was called," said Montreal police Const. Daniel Lacoursiere.
Man arrested
Police also said a man was arrested in connection with Toussaint's disappearance, but wouldn't confirm whether it was the woman's ex-boyfriend.
Neighbours said it was not in Toussaint's character to leave her young son, and her family says her ex-boyfriend, with whom she was intending to meet Monday morning, used to beat and harass her.
Last week police said they had spoken with both Toussaint's current and ex-boyfriend, but that they did not have any suspects.
Toussaint, 23, has been missing since Monday morning, when she was supposed to meet her ex-boyfriend at the Taz skateboarding park at the corner of Papineau and Emile-Journault Aves in St. Michel.
The body was found a block north.
Family awaits confirmation
Toussaint's father, Resius, said her three-year-old son Jay-Marion Romain asks him where his mother is.
"He says, ‘I want to see my mother, and I don't know where she is," said an emotional Resius.
Family members are frantic with worry and are bracing themselves for the worst.
"I think it's my daughter (found in the sewer)," said Resius.
Police said they have told the Toussaint family that's a realistic possibility.
"For now, the family has been contacted telling them it's possible that Ms. Toussaint (was) in the manhole," said Lacoursiere.
