Woman found dead after Mississauga explosion ID'd as missing homeowner

Investigators have confirmed that a woman's body pulled from the rubble of a Mississauga, Ont., house flattened by an explosion Tuesday is that of one of its owners.

A coroner's report completed Thursday identified the deceased as 55-year-old Dianne Page, one of two people listed on the Hickory Drive property's records, police say.

Police have not revealed the cause of her death or whether she died before or after the blast.

Peel regional police confirmed the discovery of a second body — a man's — Thursday afternoon, but he has not yet been identified.

Investigators had not been able to make contact with either Page or Robert Nadler — the couple listed as the owners of the house at the centre of the explosion that damaged 25 other homes nearby — and Nadler remains unaccounted for.

Neighbours described the couple as reclusive, and few could recall interactions with the pair in recent months.

The coroner's office is expected to perform an autopsy on the man's remains over the Canada Day weekend.

That second body took longer to find because of the dangerous conditions at the blast site, Const. Mark Fischer said.

"You have buildings that have been completely destroyed so it had become a point of [whether] it was safe for the rescuers to go into the area."

The fire marshal's office has taken control of the investigation into the cause of the fire. Fischer said that the excavation will likely continue for another few days and that an answer before then seems unlikely.

'We are going to be excavating very slowly'

Because of the volume of debris, investigators have not been able to access some parts of the blast site.

Jeff Minten, supervisor of investigations for the Ontario fire marshal, said earlier Thursday that the excavation could take some time, as his team needs to preserve anything that could be considered evidence, both for their own investigation or a potential criminal case.

Another police spokesman Sgt. Josh Colley, denied that earlier in the day saying, "There's no evidence as of yet to dictate the homicide department is required."

Media reports published earlier Thursday suggested the criminal investigation had been handed over to the Peel police's homicide bureau.

Homicide division not involved

He had been asked about a Globe and Mail report that said a Mississauga man named Robert Nadler was convicted of murder in the early 1980s. He was sentenced to life in prison but eligible for parole after 10 years. Colley would not confirm any connection to the Robert Nadler who is listed as an owner of the home, and the person mentioned in the Globe and Mail story.

"We're not confirming any criminal background," said Colley. "This is the name associated to the address and that's as far as we're going to go."

The blast levelled one home, while two houses on either side of it partially caved in. Debris, including tufts of foam insulation, was scattered across the streets and on rooftops around the home.

The explosion could be felt along all of Hickory Drive, a street with mostly single-family homes, located about five kilometres west of Toronto's border.

Peel's fire chief said more residents were allowed back into their homes overnight, but 69 residences are still currently uninhabitable. Crews still need to restore gas and hydro to those homes, which were cut as a precautionary measure after the explosion Tuesday.

The City of Mississauga has set up the nearby Burnhamthorpe Community Centre as an information centre where residents affected by the blast can access showers, food, information about insurance and when they can return to their homes.

Two homes adjacent to the explosion will have to be demolished and removed, fire officials said Wednesday.

Investigators will also look at notes found in the area of the blast site that could be related to the explosion, said police Chief Jennifer Evans.

A police spokesman said they would not give information on what was in the notes, and appealed to anyone finding anything related to the case to turn it over to investigators.