Whitby man charged with murder

Police say it’s presumed missing grandmother, mother are ‘deceased’

Murder charges have been laid against a Whitby man in connection with the disappearance of his mother and grandmother.

Police said Saturday morning that Joshua Burton, 30, of Whitby is facing two counts of second-degree murder.

He is the son of Ava Burton, 58, and the grandson of Tatilda Noble, 85.

The two women have been missing since at least Oct. 14.

Investigators with the Durham Regional Police major crime homicide unit arrested Joshua Burton in Oshawa on Friday afternoon. Police said they have not located the missing women, but “it is presumed that they are deceased.”

Police were called to a home on Scepter Place in Whitby just before 3 p.m. Oct. 14 for a request to check on the well-being of people at the home.

Burton and Noble were not there and items that were “suspicious in nature” were located in the home, police said.

Durham Regional Police Sgt. George Tudos said police cannot provide details on what led to Joshua Burton’s arrest.

“I can’t unfortunately get into that. This is going to be a matter in court now. It’s still an ongoing investigation, so I can’t really get into the details. They may be revealed later on as this investigation progresses,” Tudos told media Saturday.

“Our forensics team still continues to work at the scene, there was a lot of evidence that was collected here,” Tudos said as police officers were seen removing bins of items from the home on Saturday.

“Right now our concern is trying to find the remains of these two females, so that hopefully we can add some closure for the family. Officers did try to ascertain that information, unfortunately no information was provided to our investigators,” Tudos said.

Police are still looking for tips and information from the public.

Anyone with new information is asked to contact Durham police at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5411 or make an anonymous tip to Durham Regional Crime Stoppers at durhamregionalcrimestoppers.ca or 1-800-222-8477.