Veteran detective uses last day on the job to ask for help solving cold case

The head of the Toronto Police Service's cold case squad spent his last full day in the force canvassing for help solving the 1998 homicide of a young pregnant woman.

In the late winter of 1998, a pregnant 24-year-old woman was found strangled to death in a downtown Toronto parking lot.

"It has been 21 years and this killer has not been held responsible," said Sgt. Stacy Gallant in a statement released Monday — the last day of his 31-year police career.

Officers from 51 Division discovered the body of Donna Oglive on March 8, 1998, in a lot near the corner of Jarvis and Carlton streets. 

Oglive lived in British Columbia at the time, but was known to travel to Toronto regularly and had been in the city for five weeks before she died, Gallant said. She was a sex worker, he added.

A post-mortem examination revealed that she was strangled. Oglive was four months pregnant at the time, according to Gallant.

'All we need from you is his name'

A genetic profile has been created for a male suspect who is not currently in the national DNA data bank. 

"What we need is a name to go with this DNA," Gallant said. "Come forward and identify this person to assist in solving this case of a pregnant woman."

Anyone with potentially useful information is asked to contact police.

"All we need from you is his name," he said. "If you know who is responsible, take that step and help bring this offender to justice."

Oglive was of Filipino descent, about five-feet, five-inches tall and weighed about 160 lbs. She had black, shoulder-length hair and was wearing long white high-heel boots, a mini skirt and fur jacket when she was found dead, police said.

Throughout the course of his career, Gallant investigated many high profile cases, and spearheaded a number of new initiatives. 

He established the force's forensic video analysis unit last year, and the missing persons unit two years ago, following the disappearances of eight men from the gay village, which police eventually tied to serial killer Bruce McArthur.

"I love what I do and I always will," Gallant said Monday.

Earlier this month, Gallant issued appeals in two other cold cases.

One was about the death of Lisa Lynn Anstey, a 21-year-old found strangled near Front and Cherry streets 22 years ago. She was also a sex worker. 

The other unsolved homicide involved a suspected robbery, during which Richard Thomas Moore was beaten and stabbed multiple times. Police said the 28-year-old's body was found off the roadway of Colborne Lodge Drive near High Park on the morning of December 3, 1988.