Durham Regional Police announced Wednesday its investigators have recovered the remains of Kandis Fitzpatrick, a teenager killed by Adam Strong over a decade ago in Oshawa.
Fitzpatrick disappeared in 2008 and it wasn’t until 2018 that police were able to link her to Strong.
Strong is currently imprisoned for the first-degree murder of Rori Hache, who was 18 and pregnant when she was killed in 2017, and manslaughter in connection with Fitzpatrick’s death.
Fitzpatrick’s and Hache’s families attended the news conference Wednesday, when the discovery was announced.
“Today, Kandis comes home,” Hache’s mother, Shanan Dionne, said.
“It felt like November 9, 2017 all over again to me. That’s what it felt like. It was just a rush of emotions, and it’s a miracle she’s home,” she said.
Fitzpatrick was found after Strong told a prison staff member where her remains were, police said.
Det. Sgt. Doris Carriere said Strong then accompanied investigators to the location — in the area of Secreto Drive and Britannia Avenue East in Oshawa and “pointed to a general area where he had believed he had buried the remains back in 2008.”
Police have now confirmed those remains belong to Fitzpatrick.
”This discovery and the details obtained through our interviews will not change the outcome of these tragic events or the trauma injured by the victim’s family and friends. Our goal in this recovery was to be able to provide some closure to Kandis’ family and all that were affected by this crime,” Carriere told reporters.
Strong is serving a concurrent sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years for Hache’s murder and 18 years in prison for Fitzpatrick’s manslaughter.
