

Codi Wilson, CP24.com





Police have confirmed the identity of a woman found dead near the site of a massive explosion on a residential street in Mississauga earlier this week.

Police said Thursday evening that the body of 55-year-old Dianne Page was found near 4201 Hickory Drive after a massive explosion levelled the home and spewed debris in all directions.

The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined.

At a news conference earlier on Thursday afternoon, Peel Regional Police had identified Diane Page and Robert Nadler as two people associated with the home where the explosion occurred.

The body of a man was located in the rubble of a home that exploded in Mississauga, police confirmed Thursday evening.

Police had previously said that they were looking for a man who was connected to the home.

Police have not yet formally identified the man’s body found Thursday.

Sgt. Josh Colley said that crews have been unable to access the blast site to search through the rubble and acknowledged that it is possible Nadler’s body will be found in the debris.

“As far as the blast site itself, we are going to be excavating that very slowly,” Jeff Minten, an investigator with the Office of the Fire Marshal, said.

“We are going to be looking for fragile debris that is associated with the blast and part of that is also we are going to be conducting a search to determine if there are human remains. I am not going to speculate if there are or not, but we will be looking as part of our investigation.”

Police refused to comment on reports that Nadler was convicted of murder in Mississauga in the 1980s, however sources have confirmed that detail to CTV News. Those sources also confirm that Nadler has not checked in with his parole officer since the explosion.

“We are not confirming any criminal background or any sort of convictions or anything like that. We are just sort of letting the public know that this is the name associated to the address,” Colley said.

A source initially told CTV News Toronto that the homicide unit would be taking over the explosion investigation, however a source now tells the network that a decision was made this morning for the unit to instead monitor the investigation rather than take it over.

The reasons for the change are not known.

“As it stands now, this remains with 12 Division Criminal Investigations Bureau. There is no evidence as of yet to dictate that the homicide bureau is required,” Colley said, adding that it has not been determined whether the explosion was accidental or deliberate.

Police Chief Jennifer Evans told members of the media Wednesday that police were reviewing hand-written notes found scattered around the blast site that appear to be written by someone in distress. She said it was too early to tell if they are connected to the case.

“Because the blast site is so large and there are multiple homes that were damaged, it is an extensive process to try to match up hand-writing analysis so they are working on trying to associate those documents with an address,” Colley said.

Dozens of people were evacuated from the neighbourhood following the blast, which occurred in the area of Eastgate Parkway and Dixie Road, and as of Thursday afternoon, Fire Chief Tim Beckett said 69 addresses were still impacted by the evacuation zone.

On Thursday at about 5 p.m., 23 addresses were released and their occupants were allowed to re-enter. Another 46 addresses remain part of the investigation zone, City of Mississauga officials say.

“As much as I would love to get every single resident back into their neighbourhood there, we have to do this systematically and make sure it is safe for them,” Beckett said.

Officials said they hope to have more people back in their homes today and a community information centre is now open at the Burnhamthorpe Community Centre.

“That will have all the information residents need. If you need to know if your house has been affected, you can go there and they will have that information for you. If you need information about when your utilities are going to be back on, go there, they will have that information,” Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said Thursday afternoon.

“If you need shelter, social services will be there. The Insurance Bureau of Canada will be there. The showers will be open, the lights will be on. You can go to that community centre for the next three days and it will be a hub of information for reside