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He said Toronto police will be looking into Ms. Wrigglesworth’s phone records to determine whom she talked to in the days leading up to her death. He also said anyone who spoke with Ms. Wrigglesworth between July 6 and July 13 should expect a call from Toronto police as part of the investigation.

According to Julie Grant, executive-at-large at Sex Professionals of Canada, older sex workers such as Ms. Wrigglesworth are far from uncommon, although “they don’t dominate the field by any means.”

“One of the reasons they kind of do well is because there are not a lot of them,” said Ms. Grant. “They do kind of corner the market a bit on that older demographic. If you’re a guy who’s in his 70s, you may not be even comfortable seeing people in their 50s because that’s the age of your own kids.”

Another reason some sex workers continue well into retirement age is because they can hang on to a trusted client base built over many years, she said. The clientele would be “aging with you” and could be seeking a sex worker with whom, based on age, they have more in common.

But when sex workers of any age run their business independently and give out their phone numbers or addresses, as Ms. Wrigglesworth did, without the “safety net” of agencies, the risk factor rises, Ms. Grant said.

Det. Sgt. Browne said police believe Ms. Wrigglesworth, who was charged with sex trade-related offences in 1997 and 2000, “lived by very limited means” because she sent most of the money she made through her sex work and community tax work to family members in Poland.

National Post