Police hope DNA results reveal identity of man buried in Regina yard

The identity of the man found buried in a Regina backyard on June 9 remains a mystery for now.

But Regina police chief Lorilee Davies hopes that may change, when DNA testing results are returned to investigators within the next few weeks.

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“That doesn’t mean our investigation is stalled out,” she said. “Certainly our investigators have talked to a large number of people, trying to gather some clues, some more information that might lead us to the right direction.”

Davies said she hopes the DNA results will push the investigation forward.

Daniel Woodley has rented the property on Retallack Street where police say the body was laying since at least 2021.

Daniel Woodley looks at a demolished shed in the backyard he rents, covering the hole where he found a body buried on June 9. (Abby Zieverink/980CJME)

He was raking away some of the rubbish left behind by former tenants last month when he found a sock about two feet deep in the ground.

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

Woodley said police discovered the body, wrapped in a tarp.

An autopsy performed by the Saskatchewan Coroners Service found the remains were those of a man around five-foot-nine in height, around the age of 30 to 40.

The autopsy also found that the man had a broken jaw that was repaired at some point in his lifetime.

Davies didn’t say if any charges would come in connection to the mans remains.

“I think everything is on the table at this point,” she said. “There’s a lot of unanswered questions.”

Anybody who could help identifying the man’s remains was asked to contact the Regina Police Service or make an anonymous report through Crime Stoppers.