A single mother of three whose body parts were found scattered in Torontoarea waterways over the past week largely kept to herself, say neighbours in the townhouse complex where she lived and in the business plaza where she worked.
Guang Hua Liu, 41, was last seen by friends late in the afternoon on Aug. 10 who dropped her off in front of her "now-defunct spa" in east Toronto, Peel Regional Police said Tuesday at a news conference.
She was reported missing the next day and on Aug. 15 her right foot was found in the Credit River in Mississauga, Ont., about 45 kilometres west of where she lived in east-end Toronto.
Liu's head and hands were later discovered in the river in the Hewick Meadows Park area. Over the weekend, two calves, a thigh and an arm were found in West Highland Creek, just blocks away from her home.
Forensic tests have determined all of those remains belonged to Liu, but police still do not know how she died. They estimate the body parts had been in the water between five and seven days.
On Tuesday, residents in a quiet townhouse complex on Huntingwood Drive where Liu lived with an adult child were upset to hear one of their neighbours is the victim of a homicide investigation.
Jason, who didn't want to give his last name, lived in the same row of houses as Liu. He said he didn't recognize her from her photo, but wasn't surprised because the young families and elderly Chinese people who live in the area mainly kept to themselves.
Peel Insp. George Koekkoek said Liu had two younger children but they lived with their father.
Investigators were not speaking about suspects, but they say they don't believe at this point there are other victims.
"We have no reason to believe that this is anything other than an isolated case," Koekkoek said.
Imran Bachcha, a pharmacist who works next door to Liu's business, said the spa has been closed for nearly three weeks.
A few doors down, Jong Soon Suh became tearful over the news about Liu's death.
Suh said last week a Caucasian man came into her store with a poster of Liu. He was upset and said that Liu was his girlfriend.
Liu was a 91原创 citizen of Chinese descent and neither she nor her business were known to police.
