Woman's death being investigated as femicide, Ottawa police say

Body of 27-year-old woman found Saturday, hours after man died in Highway 50 crash

Ottawa police say they're investigating the death of a woman whose body was found in a Lowertown home on Saturday as a femicide.

Police discovered the 27-year-old woman's body after Sûreté du Québec asked for help investigating a fatal motor vehicle collision earlier that morning.

Shortly before 1 a.m., a 34-year-old man lost control of his vehicle, hit a guardrail and crashed into a concrete wall on Highway 50 near Papineauville, Que. He was pronounced dead in hospital.

Quebec provincial police considered the man's injuries "suspicious" and requested help with their investigation, according to a news release Saturday from Ottawa police.

Ottawa police officers discovered the woman's body in a home on Guigues Avenue just after 11 a.m.

Police have not explained precisely how the two deaths may be linked.

"The investigation remains ongoing as investigators continue to gather evidence and speak with potential witnesses," Ottawa police said in an update Monday.

"There is no ongoing threat to public safety."

'We all have to look out for each other'

Residents of Lowertown said they are shaken by what happened.

Laura Hashimoto, who lives nearby, said she came home from a walk with her mother and daughter Saturday morning to find flashing lights and police cars all over Guigues Avenue.

She said it's not uncommon to see officers in the area, but it wasn't until later that she learned what happened.

"We just saw a lot of police officers, and we weren't quite sure why there were so many on the street," Hashimoto told Radio-Canada on Monday. "That's awful to hear that something so horrible would happen."

Neighbourhood resident Susan Spronk described the area as a tight-knit community, adding she was sad something so tragic happened close to home.

"I feel like this kind of thing can happen anywhere, but it does show that we all have to look out for each other," she said.