Pregnant criminology student murdered

A pregnant criminology student who specialised in missing and murdered indigenous women has been found murdered at the side of a Canadian highway after disappearing two weeks earlier.

The body of Loretta Saunders, 26, an Inuit woman, was dumped in a wooded median off the Trans-Canada Highway in New Brunswick — more than 720km from her home in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Her body was recovered yesterday afternoon and an autopsy is not yet complete but police have ruled her death a homicide.

Two suspects are in custody.

Ms Saunders was three months pregnant at the time she was murdered.

The St. Mary's University student, who was completing an honours thesis on missing and murdered indigenous women, was last seen on February 13 as she was going to collect $700 in overdue rent from a young couple living in her apartment.

Ms Saunders reportedly had sublet her high-rise apartment and moved in with her boyfriend to save money to pay for university fees.

Those tenants — Blake Leggette, 25, and Victoria Hennenberry, 28 — were arrested six days later and charged with stealing her Toyota Celica.

They are now also being held as suspects in her murder.

Police have not confirmed whether the pair will face murder charges but did say they were not looking for any other suspects.

The couple has been extradited back to Halifax.

Police said Ms Saunders had been having trouble collecting rent from the tenants, whom she found online, and was planning to evict them if they failed to pay when she went in person two weeks ago.

Source: CTV News, National Post

Author: Erin Tennant, Approving editor: Natasha Lee