Dellen Millard’s 100-acre farm was the epicentre of a police search last September.Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail
An Ontario agency that investigates claims of police wrongdoing is probing a complaint about the initial Toronto Police investigation into the 2012 disappearance of Laura Babcock, who detectives recently alleged was murdered by Dellen Millard.
Shawn Lerner, a friend of Ms. Babcock, filed a complaint with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director last month alleging that officers did little to track down the 23-year-old University of Toronto graduate after she went missing in June, 2012.
"The Toronto Police completely botched the investigation as far as I am concerned," Mr. Lerner said.
Mr. Lerner alleges Toronto Police neglected to investigate leads and dismissed Ms. Babcock as a drug-addicted runaway. He also believes that the lives of Mr. Millard's two other alleged victims may have been saved if officers had taken her disappearance more seriously.
Toronto Police reinvestigated Ms. Babcock's case after Mr. Millard, her long-time friend, was charged last year with the death of Tim Bosma, 32, an Ancaster, Ont., father whose badly charred remains were found on the aviation heir's farm outside Kitchener.
Two months ago, detectives charged Mr. Millard, 28, with first-degree murder for Ms. Babcock's death. Police have not revealed whether they have recovered her remains. Mr. Millard also faces an additional count of first-degree murder for his father's death in November, 2012.
Rosemary Parker, a spokeswoman for the OIPRD, would not confirm whether the agency is investigating Mr. Lerner's complaint because of privacy regulations. However, a search on the organization's website for the case's status yields the result: "complaint in OIPRD investigation."
Mark Pugash, a Toronto Police spokesman, declined comment, citing the continuing court case.
Jill Mahoney