Police say they've found evidence that suggests the Millardair hangar at the Region of Waterloo International Airport was being used as a giant "chop shop" for stolen vehicles.
Hamilton Police confirm they're investigating multiple stolen vehicles and parts found inside the massive Breslau hangar owned by the 27-year-old man at the centre of the Tim Bosma murder investigation.
Dellen Millard, charged with first-degree murder in Bosma's death, inherited the hangar now thrust into the national spotlight after his father died last November. Plans for the hangar, built in 2011 for $6.4 million to store and repair jetliners, became unclear after Wayne Millard's apparent suicide - a death now being re-examined by homicide detectives.
A Toronto man says he was contacted by police who found his stolen Harley Davidson motorcycle inside the local hangar. The motorcycle had been stolen from his driveway after it was listed on Kijiji, an online classified ads site.
The motorcycle had been chopped into pieces, repainted and had serial numbers shaved down.
Police confirm the man's motorcycle, along with other vehicles and parts, were recovered inside the cavernous hangar with the red roof off Fountain Street North.
"I can confirm that the motorcycle written about was recovered in the hangar by the Hamilton Police. There were a number of vehicles and/or parts found in the hangar and this remains under investigation," Const. Debbie McGreal-Dinning of the Hamilton Police Service said in an email.
Police say they're still trying to track down owners of the discovered vehicles, putting the number found at less than 10.
Meanwhile, police were back at Millard's Roseville Road farm Thursday to continue their investigation into the disappearance of his friend Laura Babcock, who was reported missing last July.
Her phone records show she and Millard exchanged eight phone calls in the days leading up to her disappearance, including her last call on July 3.
Toronto police forensics investigators were on the North Dumfries Township farm property with excavation equipment, digging up mounds of dirt and sifting through it. Exactly what they were looking for remains unclear.
Bosma's remains, burned beyond recognition according to police, were found May 14 on the property.
Mark Smich, 25, of Oakville is also charged with first-degree murder in the death of Bosma.
Meanwhile, provincial police said concerns brought forward about blood on a boat rented by Millard are unfounded. OPP on Manitoulin Island have concluded an investigation started in mid-May after the owner of a charter yacht company told police he'd seen drops of blood on a boat rented by Millard in the summer of 2011.
At the lower hangar, Waterloo Regional Police say the stolen vehicle investigation is being led by Hamilton Police.
They'll only become involved if some of the parts or vehicles can be traced back to vehicles stolen within the region, said Insp. Kevin Thaler.
"Hamilton is there on that property under the authority of their warrant. Anything they find in there, as a courtesy, if they recognize it as stolen, they'll turn it over to the original agency," he said.
The description of vehicles dismantled, repainted and having serial numbers grinded away fits with a "typical chop shop," he said.
Regional airport officials, meanwhile, are refusing to comment on the discovery within the hangar, which sits on land owned by the Region of Waterloo.
Bryan Stortz, a spokesperson for the region, said the airport has been getting national attention because of the case, but can't speak about anything connected with an ongoing investigation.
"That's speaking to evidence in a criminal investigation. We can't speculate on what's happening within the hangar," Stortz said.
Records show the region approved a 50-year land lease for the hangar with Millard Properties for about $19,000 a year in 2011, although the region has refused to reveal the exact amount.
Wayne Millard, a former pilot who carried his family's airline legacy, negotiated the hangar lease and the building's construction was finished in February 2012. But plans to use the hangar to repair jets didn't materialized - by November he was dead, apparently of a suicide.
Now, with his son sitting in jail, homicide detectives are re-examining the circumstances of his death.
Millardair has since ceased operations, and asked Transport Canada to cancel its jetliner maintenance certificate in February.
With files from Linda Givetash, Record staff
and news services
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