A 42-year-old man is facing a murder charge after police confirmed partial human remains found last month in a Hamilton landfill are those of a woman who was last heard from in December.
Hamilton police say DNA test results confirmed on Friday the remains found on May 21 are those of Shalini Singh.
Det. Sgt. Daryl Reid says Jeffery Smith from Burlington, Ont., was arrested in a parking lot later on Friday and he was charged with second-degree murder.
He says the accused was Singh's common-law partner at the time and police believe she was killed in her apartment before her body was removed through the building's garbage system.
Reid says the accused was also charged with indignity to human remains and he had his first appearance in court on Saturday.
The charges have not been tested in court.
Singh was initially reported missing in December alongside Smith, but police said he showed up at a family member's house outside the city the next day and has allegedly refused to co-operate with the investigation.
Police have said they obtained surveillance footage from the apartment building where the couple lived and there's no video of Singh leaving after Dec. 4, the day her family last heard from her.
Police had been searching the Glanbrook landfill since late February.
Reid said the search is ongoing but the current heat wave may delay those efforts.
Singh鈥檚 family has been informed about the discovery of her remains and is receiving support from the force's victim services unit, police said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025.
The Canadian Press
