Specifically, a square-shaped, five-gallon pail containing loonies and toonies totalling approximately $3,000. Police also located stereo components near the rear of the house and believed other stereo equipment may have been taken. The following summer, the OPP identified two pieces of equipment that were in fact removed from the victim’s home around the time of his murder: a Panasonic RX-DS18PC-K portable CD player/cassette recorder (serial number GM8CA04493); and a Pioneer PDR-609 Compact Disc digital recorder (serial number UINN000156CC).

A man’s gold wedding ring was found at the scene that was later determined to not belong to Barufe. Barufe’s wallet was found approximately six kilometres from the crime scene on County Road 87 north of Fordwich later that February. Other documents belonging to Barufe were found in the same area on March 24, 2003.

“The Felix Barufe investigation is an active, ongoing investigation,” reiterated Stanley. “There have been a number of leads and each one of them continues to be investigated. The OPP will not discuss what evidence was collected as it remains an active and ongoing investigation.”

On April 1, 2003, the OPP released a statement that it was seeking two men whose vehicle became stuck in the ditch on Creamery Road – exactly one side road south of the crime scene – on the evening of Jan. 28, 2003. One man was described as Caucasian, with a large build and broad shoulders and short hair. He was possibly wearing a lumber jacket with a white T-shirt underneath. The second man was described as black, with short hair (possibly a shaved head) and wearing black clothing.

The vehicle was described as a small to mid-sized dark-coloured sports car, which may have had a rear spoiler.

Additionally, the OPP continued to petition the public in an attempt to trace the whereabouts and activities of Barufe in the days leading up to his death. The victim drove two vehicles: a 1999 blue Chevrolet S10 pickup truck with Ontario license plate 868-5KE; and a white 2001 Pontiac Grand Am with a large rear racing spoiler and Ontario license plate AMXA-881.

Barufe was known to frequent the Listowel, Midland, Guelph, Kitchener, Mississauga, Etobicoke and Toronto areas.

By December 2003, the OPP had offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Barufe’s murder. That reward remains active today, 16 years later.

“It’s been pretty much forgotten by most people today,” said the Spencetown Road neighbour of Barufe’s murder, adding, however, that it is hard for them or their family members to drive past his former home and not think about it. “The description that house has got – it’s the murder house.”

Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Ontario Provincial Police Communications Centre at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).