Toronto police have contacted the mother of missing teen Mariam Makhniashvili, saying they're running forensic tests on a body found to determine if it could be the missing teen.
Discovered Tuesday by two people walking near the Don Valley Golf Course, the remains were so decomposed police could not identify their age or sex. They did estimate the body had been there for about two or three years.
The course's location, in a ravine under Highway 401 near Yonge Street, is not far from the high-rise building where the Makhniashvili family lives.
Lela Tabidze, Mariam's mother, says she heard from police Thursday; a gesture police describe as a courtesy to the family. Tabidze says they warned her that she "might get some news," and encouraged her "not to get too upset, and wait for the results" of the tests.
The remains are at coroner's office, but it's not clear how long their investigation could take. Dental records and the scraps of clothing found with the body will have to be analyzed, while police comb through missing person records from the past three years to look for a match.
Meanwhile, investigators continue to comb the golf course for more clues. On Friday, they combed through thick brush carrying evidence markers, scaling a steep hill with a rope as they searched for more evidence.
Makhniashvili has been missing since Sept. 14, 2009, when she disappeared after going to school. The only sign of her since she disappeared at age 17 was the discovery of her backpack and books in an alley near her school, Forest Hill Collegiate, the following month.
The school is located near Bathurst Street and Eglinton Avenue West, about six kilometres southwest of the location where the remains were discovered.
Her disappearance sparked an international investigation, several rumours of sightings and the largest missing person search in Toronto history.
