A local neighbourhood association is helping create a safe walk program after a missing woman was found dead in the Church-Wellesley neighbourhood last week.
Although in the early stages, the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association (CWNA) has reached out to a number of local organizations including the 519 and the City of Toronto to help develop the program.
“If you’re at a bar or a venue in the neighbourhood and you’re ready to go home but feel unsafe, you’d be able to contact someone who would either physically walk with you or be on the phone with you while you got yourself to a place of safety,” says Andrew Horberry, CWNA president.
Before the program can launch, Horberry says logistics such as how volunteer chaperones would be vetted and trained still need to be worked out. So far, around 50 people have contacted the CWNA to volunteer.
The safe walk program was prompted by the recent string of missing persons in the neighbourhood and the death of 22-year-old Tess Richey, whose body was found last week outside of a building under construction at Church and Dundonald.
At first, police deemed Richey’s death an accident, but has since ruled it a homicide. Now, the Toronto police professional standards unit is examining how Richey’s case was handled.
“There were concerns about whether everything was done in the way it should have been,” says police spokesperson Mark Pugash.
Community members have criticized the police for not giving the neighbourhood enough attention. According to the CBC, Richey’s mother found her body after traveling from North Bay to Toronto to search for her daughter.
Pugash adds: “We’re working extremely hard on these cases. We’ve been reaching out to the community regularly and we will continue to do that. We’re going to keep working until we get to the bottom of the these cases.”
samanthae@nowtoronto.com | SamEdwardsTO
