‘The bones fell out’: Regina man hopes police will identify human remains found in his backyard

As Daniel Woodley was raking the junk out of his yard, he discovered something that left him speechless.

“I found garbage buried in the corner over here,” he said while pointing to a shaded area. “I kept digging, digging, try to get rid of it, and basically I found a foot.”

The home his family is renting on 1300 block of Retallack Street was at the centre of a Regina police investigation after Woodley found human remains on the property.

The tenants that lived at the home at prior to the Woodley’s left behind a backyard riddled with rubbish.

The family has only lived on the property since December, but when the snow began to melt, it revealed garbage, broken glass, and needles.

Sweet grass lays at the entrance of a hole where a man’s body was dug up in North Central on June 9. (Abby Zieverink/980CJME)

Woodley said he was trying to create a safe place for his kids to play, when he found the sock about two feet deep in the ground on June 9.

“I didn’t really think much of it till I picked it up, and all the bones fell out of it,” he said.

Woodley said he felt more “grossed out” than anything, and called the police.

Regina police began searching the backyard for several days wrapping up the investigation around June 13, he said.

Woodley said the search warrant he received said the body was wrapped in a tarp.

Both Regina police and RCMP’s historical case unit responded to the scene.

A piece of blue tarp sits in a pile of leaves, sticks, and garbage in Daniel Woodley’s backyard. (Abby Zieverink/980CJME)

Police said in a news release the death was being treated as suspicious, and they were still working to identify the person.

An autopsy performed by the Saskatchewan Coroners Service on Tuesday found the victim is believed to be male, around 5-foot-9 in height, and was around the ages of 30 to 40 at the time of his death.

Police are looking for information to help identify the remains. Anyone with tips is urged to contact Regina police or make a report anonymously through Crime Stoppers.

Woodley is hopeful police will be able to identify the man soon, to hopefully provide closure to a family that’s missing a loved one.

Regina Police began searching the backyard of the home on the 1300 block of Retallack Street on June 9. (Abby Zieverink/980CJME)

Neighbours left uneasy by the discovery

Michael Whitford watched from his window as more police cars pulled up to the house across the street from him on June 9.

He discovered later that a person’s remains were dug from the earth.

“I just didn’t know how to feel, actually,” Whitford said. “Kind of shocked, and yeah, (it’s) kind of scary.”

Other neighbours have told Woodley they have found the situation unexpected.

“They all seem to say think that it’s a little bit strange,” he said. “They lived here for about six plus years, a lot of them.

“They all tell me that they don’t think there’s anybody that they’ve noticed around here that would have done something like that.”

Woodley said woman visited the yard and laid a piece of braided sweet grass and a cigarette where the man’s remains were found in commemoration of his life.

A demolished shed and pile of debris is left covering a hole in the backyard of a home on Retallack Street after a body was found burried in Regina’s North Central neighbourhood. (Abby Zieverink/980CJME)

Starting with a mess, and ending with a mess

Woodley is now working with his landlord to figure out what to do with the remainders of the shed that was pulled over during the police investigation.

The shed was filled with garbage bags and different items that didn’t belong to the Woodley’s and now need to be disposed of.

His daughter has epilepsy, and he said wanted to create a nice place for his kids to enjoy the sunshine.

Woodley planned to excavate the entire yard and lay down brick over the area, but worries that won’t happen for a while now.

“I just want this mess gone,” he said. “I just want to continue on with my summer.”

Woodley said the bylaw officer gave a citation to his landlord to come remove some of the boards and haul them away.