The discovery of a missing woman’s body in Nanaimo earlier this month is now being treated as homicide, say Nanaimo RCMP. (File photo)

Discovery of woman’s body in downtown Nanaimo now being investigated as a homicide

Amy Watts's body was discovered near Albert Street and Victoria Crescent on June 3

  • Jun. 16, 2021 12:00 a.m.

The death of 27-year-old Amy Watts, whose body was discovered in downtown Nanaimo earlier this month, is being treated as a homicide.

Watts’s body was discovered June 3 in a small wooded steep ravine near the intersection of Albert Street and Victoria Crescent.

The Nanaimo RCMP Serious Crime Unit has overall responsibility for the investigation. Police spoke with the family of the deceased last week and informed them on the status of the investigation.

Police are not commenting on what led them to believe Watts’s death was the result of foul play.

“We’re not getting into the details of the investigation. That is to preserve the integrity of the investigation as we move forward,” O’Brien said.

He described the investigation as “active and aggressive” with numerous officers taking statements, reviewing security camera footage and working with forensic evidence.

No arrests have been made, so far, in relation to Watts’s death.

READ ALSO: Missing woman’s body found in downtown Nanaimo

Five deaths have been investigated as homicides in Nanaimo in 2021, including a fatal shooting at Rock City Centre in May, the discovery of Randell Charles Thomas’s body near the Nanaimo Parkway in April, an investigation in May at sites on Vancouver Avenue and Divers Lake into the suspected death by foul play of a missing man, and there was an investigation into the suspicious death of 21-year-old Deanna Williams before an autopsy revealed her death was not the result of foul play.


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