The Windsor Police Service has picked up a prestigious award for solving a cold case that dates back to 1971.
The Major Crimes Unit received the Ontario Homicide Investigators Association's 2022 Lynda Shaw Memorial Award for solving the murder of six-year-old Ljubica Topic.
Ljubica Topic. Photo courtesy of Windsor Police Service.
The little girl had been playing outside her family's Drouillard Road home when she was lured away by a stranger who offered her money. She was sexually assaulted and murdered. Four hours later, her body was found in a nearby alleyway.
In 2019, investigators identified the man responsible for that murder using evidence collected in 1971 and Investigative Genetic Genealogy.
Police followed up on hundreds of tips and interviewed more than 700 people of interest in the case.
"We're extremely proud of the exceptional work of our Major Crimes Unit," said Acting Police Chief Jason Bellaire. "This award underscores the professionalism, dedication, and tenacity of the many members who worked on this heinous case over the past 48 years."
Lynda Shaw was a Western University student who was murdered in 1990. Police identified her murderer in 2005.