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“There was no point in time that I said we don’t take missing persons cases seriously,” Saunders said. “I think that when someone is calling in to report a missing person an element of sensitivity is necessary.”

Families and friends of missing people in the neighbourhood have taken matters into their own hands by organizing search parties, something Saunders says makes him question the force’s service to the community.

Photo by Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network

The Toronto police faced similar accusations when in November, they identified a body found in the Rosedale Valley ravine in July as Alloura Wells, a transgender woman. Wells, who was homeless and was a sex worker, disappeared in July but was only reported missing by her family in November. Her family has publicly complained that the police told them her disappearance was of low priority to them because she was homeless.

Although he’s not a suspect, police are looking to speak with her boyfriend, Augustinus Balesdent, who is also homeless and may have been the last person to see her alive.

Faced with the accusations that they didn’t take the disappearances of people with ties to the Village seriously, the police spent a large portion of the press conference revealing details such as how many interviews they conducted in each case.

Photo by Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network

This was the case for the disappearances of Andrew Kinsman and Selim Esen, who went missing in June and April respectively. Police had no new information to offer on their disappearances but insisted that they were in no way connected to the cases of three men with strong ties to the neighbourhood who disappeared in between 2010 and 2012.

In an attempt to repair its relationship with the community and ensure its safety, four additional police officers have been assigned to the neighbourhood.

• Email: vferreira@postmedia.com | Twitter: VicF77