Thomas Ryan can’t help looking at the picture of his niece, Laura Babcock, the one smiling out from the missing person’s flyer posted in the downtown health club he runs.

Those who heard the news Thursday — that Dellen Millard, 28, accused in the deaths of Ancaster man Tim Bosma and his own father, is now also believed to have killed Babcock — have offered Ryan their condolences.

Police believe Babcock, a social butterfly whose friends and family have waited two years for answers after she disappeared without a word, was killed around July 3, 2012. That new information, filed in court Thursday, means she was likely dead for 11 days before she was ever reported missing.

“There is no closure by any means,” said Ryan. “Do we have a memorial? Do you have a memorial without a body?”

Ryan said the family has no information from police on whether they have discovered Babcock’s remains. Police were silent on that question this week.

That uncertainty has left Babcock’s parents holding out hope that she may still be out there, her uncle said.

“I think the hope is gone in me now,” Ryan said.

On Thursday, police announced Mark Smich, 26, also co-accused in Bosma’s murder, was charged in Babcock’s death. Millard’s girlfriend, Christina Noudga, 21, has been charged as an accessory to murder after the fact.

Noudga is accused of helping him “escape” after Bosma’s murder, police said.

As well, at least three other people may be the alleged link between Millard and an illegal firearm.

On Tuesday, three men were brought before a Toronto court to face charges of weapons trafficking. The arresting officer was Const. Jennifer Cash, who took over Babcock’s missing persons file before homicide’s Det. Mike Carbone was put in charge.

When contacted by the Star on Friday, Mathew Odlum, 27, confirmed his charge of trafficking a firearm was linked to the police case against Millard.

“I think you might think that I’m a little more involved in this than I am,” Odlum said. “We’re going years back, this is from two or three years ago.”

Odlum said his understanding is that police allege he illegally sold a gun to Millard. When pressed for details, he quickly got off the phone, saying he wanted to speak to a lawyer.

“I really wasn’t expecting this at all, the Toronto Star to be calling my house.”

According to the information filed in court, Odlum is co-accused with two others: Matthew Ward-Jackson, 26, of Mississauga, and Matthew Jackson Wawrykiewicz, 28, of Aurora.

Ward-Jackson is additionally charged with two other firearm trafficking offences from February and September 2012.

All three names appear on a newly filed list of people Millard and Smich have been ordered by the court not to have any contact with.

Police allege all three trafficked a gun between June 1, 2012, and July 30, 2012.

Shawn Lerner, Babcock’s former boyfriend, reported the last official sighting of the woman on June 26, 2012.

That day, Lerner had met up with the struggling Babcock, who friends say had moved from couch to couch, and the odd night in a park. They had dinner and he loaned her his iPad because she said she was looking for a place to live.

Lerner paid for her to stay at the Days Inn motel at Queen St. W. and Roncesvalles Ave.

Babcock’s friends said she went silent in early July. While she would often disappear for months on end without seeing her friends, she would always stay in touch through texts or Facebook messages.

When he didn’t hear from Babcock for nearly three weeks, Lerner and her parents went to police on July 14.

But Lerner said it’s not clear how thoroughly the officer initially assigned to the case investigated.

Eugene Arul, the hotel manager at what is now a Howard Johnson, said no one asked questions about Babcock until the Star showed up in May 2013, shortly after Millard was arrested.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

The hotel’s video surveillance records over itself on a one-week loop, Arul said, meaning any images of Babcock would have been gone before she was reported missing.

Much like those who knew Millard have said, Babcock’s friends say she and her bubbly personality were always the centre of attention when she walked into the room.

But after she graduated from the University of Toronto, she began clashing with her parents at home. Friends say in the end she was doing hard drugs and struggling with mental illness. She was on a variety of medications and had a recent diagnosis of multiple personality disorder that she believed could be treated.

After Millard was arrested in Bosma’s murder, investigators said Babcock had posted online advertising escort services.

But it’s not clear what significance that detail has in her death. Her family said they knew Millard to be a friend of their daughter’s. Friends believe they had a more intimate relationship.

In Hamilton court Friday, Millard’s current girlfriend, Noudga, appeared briefly before she was held in custody pending a bail hearing. Her next appearance is currently scheduled in May by video.

Police allege Noudga knew Millard had killed Bosma and assisted in his “escape” last May 9, three days after Bosma disappeared, said Crown Attorney Tony Leitch.

In May, police announced they had found Bosma’s burned body on the Ayr, Ont., farm owned by Millard. Police on several occasions returned to the farm with search warrants, but recovered nothing “significant,” they said.

That Roseville Rd. property was sold to a company listed as All Exterior Improvements Inc. for $840,000 on Feb. 28, according to property records.

Leitch said Noudga made a statement to police after she was arrested Thursday, but could not say whether she is being co-operative.

“We don’t usually arrest co-operating witnesses,” Leitch said.

The senior prosecutor, one of three working on the Bosma case in Hamilton, said he has also been made aware of the three men charged with weapons trafficking, but could not say how they are connected to the murder.

Before Noudga’s online Facebook profile disappeared following Millard’s arrest, her page showed she was a member of a group trying to help find Babcock.

At Noudga’s family home in Etobicoke Thursday, neighbour Mark Majchrowski said he saw officers removing a “good deal” of boxes and bags.

He said the neighbourhood is stunned a case that grabbed international attention is now playing out across the street.

“That was the shocking part that it’s come to this quiet community,” Majchrowski said. “It’s literally come to our front door.”

After the Star’s Robert Cribb sat down for two extensive jailhouse interviews with Millard last December, the Star reached Noudga by phone.

“Maybe we can talk another time, I’m kind of busy this month,” she said. “I will be out of town. But I don’t really want to talk about it. I might call you back.”

She never did.

Jennifer Pagliaro can be reached at 416-869-4364 or jpagliaro@thestar.ca

Liam Casey can be reached at liamdevlincasey@gmail.com

Read more about: