Charges have been laid in a mysterious murder case that went cold for nearly two decades.

Toronto police announced on Wednesday that the father and stepmother of a young girl found stuffed inside a burning suitcase in 1994 have now been charged with murder.

Homicide Det. Sgt. Steve Ryan said Everton Biddersingh and stepmother Elaine Biddersingh were arrested on March 5. Each is charged with the first-degree murder of Melonie Biddersingh and both are in custody.

Melonie was 17 years old when her remains were found on Sept. 1, 1994. A patrolling York Regional Police officer spotted a fire outside an industrial building on Bradwick Drive, near Highway 7 in Vaughan, Ont.

There, he found a suitcase wedged between two burning tires. Melonie's body was inside the suitcase.

The victim remained unidentified until last month. She was described as a young woman between 17 and 18 years old with protruding upper teeth and a slim build, weighing between 85 and 100 lbs.

Ryan said the investigation was rejuvenated last month following a "phone call from a person with a conscience."

Based on the tip, Toronto police recently contacted authorities in Kingston, Jamaica, and located the victim's biological mother last month. The woman had been unaware that her daughter had died in 1994.

Investigators obtained a sample of the woman's DNA and compared it to the victim's remains to confirm her identity.

On Wednesday, Ryan said that Melonie, her brother Dwayne and their half-brother, Cleon, moved from Kingston, Jamaica, to Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood in 1990 to live with her father and stepmother.

At one point there were six kids living in home and none of them went to school, police said.

Ryan said police believe Melonie was kept in seclusion during her time in Toronto, with only her immediate family members knowing exactly how she was treated before her death.

"My information is that her life in Toronto wasn't pleasant," Ryan said, declining to elaborate.

A forensic examination of Melonie's remains was held in 2004, a decade after her death. That exam found that the girl had suffered numerous injuries before her death, including fractured lower back and ribs, which appeared to have been caused by a fall from a height, or from a car accident.

The examination found that her injuries likely took place three weeks to six months prior to her death, leaving her immobile. They say the injuries likely left her suffering from great pain, due to an apparent lack of medical treatment for the injuries.

Ryan also said Melonie's 15-year-old brother, Dwayne, fell to his death in 1992, from the family's 22nd-storey apartment balcony.

Ryan said the death was deemed a suicide at the time, but he said the death would be looked at as part of the homicide department's ongoing investigation.

Police said they hope this case will give hope to other family members living with the uncertainty of a cold case.

"For them I would say just don't give up and to remain hopeful because we have not forgotten about your loved ones," Ryan said.

With files from Tamara Cherry