Police return to Dellen Millard farmland in Laura Babcock investigation

Investigators with the Toronto Police Service returned to the notorious farmland of Dellen Millard this week after receiving new information in an ongoing search for a missing woman.

Millard’s property in Ayr, Ont., was subjected to police searches earlier this summer after the heir of a family aviation dynasty was named as a suspect in the death of Tim Bosma.

Toronto police returned to the farm this week to resume a search of the property after receiving new leads in an investigation. Toronto homicide investigators confirmed on Tuesday that the search is in relation to the disappearance of Laura Babcock, a young Ontario woman who disappeared last year.

Babcock has been romantically linked to Millard and is believed to have been in contact with him shortly before she was last seen in July 2012.

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Her disappearance was investigated by Toronto police at the time, but the search was called off when investigators failed to find anything suspicious.

It was re-opened earlier this year after Millard was arrested in the murder of Tim Bosma.

Toronto police also began investigating another death with potential ties to Millard since the 27-year-old heir of a family aviation dynasty was tied to the bizarre death of Bosma, whose body was found on Millard's farm after he disappeared while on a test drive with two suspects.

As well as the Babcock disappearance, investigators began reconsidering the death of Millard's father, who was believed to have shot himself last year.

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It is not clear what new information led Toronto police to relaunch a search of Millard’s farmland, but forensic investigators and the Waterloo Regional Police’s drug unit are said to be involved.

The Hamilton Spectator's Molly Hayes reports that police appear to have narrowed their search to an old wooden barn on the property.

Hayes writes:

Investigators previous paid a great deal of attention to Millard's livestock incinerator. Police have said Millard did not own livestock.

Millard and co-accused Mark Smich both face charges of first-degree murder in the death of Bosma. They will appear in court on Thursday for a pre-trial hearing.

Meantime, the search of Millard's property continues.

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