Six days later on September 5th, an area resident was taking a walk along Beechgrove Sideroad in Caledon, and saw in a wooded area what appeared to be human remains. They were later confirmed to be the remains of Ms. Varaschin, officially upgrading the investigation from missing person to homicide.

Five years later, the investigation is ongoing, and the murderer is still at large. Detectives from the Orangeville Police Service (OPS) as well as the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), have been actively investigating the murder, conducted under the direction of Detective Inspector Shawn Glassford of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB).

“The public has been very actively involved in this investigation from the outset and continues to play an integral and supportive role,” said Detective Inspector Glassford. “We have received over 1000 tips and believe that this murder will be solved with a key piece of information that comes from a person within the community. No matter how small the information, each and every tip has and will continue to be thoroughly investigated.”

In the early stages of the investigation, DNA samples were recovered from her apartment, as well as a boot-print that matched a specific style sold at Mark’s Work Wearhouse. However, unless the murderer had DNA samples on file from a previous crime, using them to identify the killer would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

In 2011 it was announced that police had strong suspicions Ms. Varaschin might have met her killer through the online dat- ing website, PlentyofFish.com, where she had an account and had conversed with several men. There had been no signs of forced entry at her home, suggesting either that the front door had been left unlocked, or that she had allowed the person entry to her home.

Police asked men who had had contact with Ms. Varaschin to provide saliva samples to rule them out, but no DNA matches were found from those who did give samples.

In multiple articles since the OPP reported they are still proceeding with the investigation, Detective Inspector Glassford has confirmed that they believe the person is familiar with the area where Ms. Varaschin lived and was murdered, and that they have not ruled out that the murderer was someone she met online.

Not long after the investigation began, a reward was announced for anyone capable of providing information that would lead police to the murderer. According to the OPP, the reward is still in place.

“A $50,000 reward that has been authorized by the Government of the Province of Ontario remains in place for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the murder of Sonia Varaschin,” said Detective Inspector Glassford. “Anonymity is guaranteed through Crime Stoppers and our dedicated tip line remains active. These viable options remain available for providing additional information that may help to identify and bring Sonia’s killer to justice.”

Investigators are asking anyone who has information to contact the Orangeville Police Service Tip Line at 519-941-2522 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.