Where is Eli Wood? Mother promises ‘none of us are going to give up’ search for answers It’s now been one year since anyone has seen or heard from Eli Wood. On the morning of Oct. 19, 2025, flames destroyed the back unit of a home on Major Street in Kitchener, Ont., where the 25-year-old lived. The Waterloo Regional Police Service launched an arson investigation but have never said what led them to that determination. “We’re still looking into what the cause of the fire was and trying to get answers for that as well,” said Insp. Alison Sproule. Eli’s remains were not found at the home and police continue to believe foul play was involved in the disappearance. Now, one year after the fire, they renewed their appeal for information in the case. “The anniversary doesn’t change anything for us,” said Insp. Sproule. “Investigators are trying to determine Eli’s last preceding moments prior to the arson and anyone that may have had contact with Eli.” Police also shared a video with a message from Eli’s mother. “Eli doesn’t deserve this,” said Cindy Wood, her voice shaky. “I think somebody does know something and I think it’s time that they spoke up.” The disappearance has been hard on Eli’s family, especially their younger siblings. “Eli is the most loving person you could ever meet,” Cindy said. “Eli put them to sleep at night on video chat, helped them do homework over the phone. Eli’s kind of like the glue that keeps my family together.” Eli grew up in Digby, Nova Scotia, then moved to New Brunswick to attend Mount Allison University. That’s where Michelle Roy-Brock met Eli. “Everything feels surreal,” she told CTV News. “I also feel very angry still and very sad because, when I look at everybody in the world, Eli is one of the most gentle souls I have ever met. I just can’t comprehend that somebody would want to harm him.” Eli then moved to Waterloo, Ont., to study at Wilfrid Laurier University. “Eli is a person whose kindness, compassion and commitment to justice have brought people together, made others feel seen and helped people feel less alone. These are the parts of Eli that deserve to be known, highlighted and celebrated, alongside the ongoing efforts to bring Eli home,” wrote Abbey, one of Eli’s former classmates, in an email to CTV News. “We are still here. We are still advocating. We are still holding hope for Eli and Eli’s family. A year has passed, but our commitment remains unwavering.” Katalin Puscas, another friend and former classmate, echoed that sentiment. “One year of waiting, hoping, praying and living with so many unanswered questions,” she wrote. “My heart is very heavy and sometimes I don’t even know how to explain what I feel. This kind of grief is new to me, and I am still learning how to live with it. It is so painful when someone you care about so much is missing, and you don’t know where they are or what happened to them.” Multiple searches have been organized over the last year by Eli’s friends and concerned community members. So far, nothing has turned up. “I’m very thankful for [everyone] who has taken it on themselves to organize vigils, searches and a beautiful garden for Eli in Waterloo,” Roy-Brock said. Cindy, who still lives on the east coast, wishes she could have been part of those efforts. “Having your child missing in your own province is one thing but to have them in another province makes it a hundred times harder.” Family and friends are doing what they can to get answers by sharing Eli’s story on social media, knowing they just have to reach the right person. “Somebody has to know and they’re keeping it to themselves because Eli doesn’t mean anything, Eli’s not a person to them,” Cindy said. “Eli’s everything to us and I think they just need to call it in, no matter what it is.” Eli is 4’10” tall and weighs between 85 and 95 pounds, with green eyes, white eyebrows and eyelashes. They also have several distinctive tattoos, including a flower and seahorse on their left forearm and a rainbow on their upper right arm. “None of us are going to give up,” Cindy promised. “We just want Eli to come home.” Anyone with information, no matter how insignificant, is urged to call the Waterloo Regional Police Service’s Major Crime Unit at 519-570-9777, ext. 8191. 22-year-old charged for going 115 km/h in a 50 km/h zone in company car Wellington County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have charged a 22-year-old driver who was caught going 115 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. The incident happened around 2 p.m. on Saturday along Main Street East in Mapleton Township. Police pulled the man over after he was spotted driving well above the posted speed limit. Officers then learned he was driving a company car that failed to meet road safety standards. The 22-year-old from Wallenstein, Ont. was charged with stunt driving, speeding more than 50 km/h over the posted limit, and failure to accurately complete daily inspection report. A business in Alma, Ont. was also charged with failure to ensure road safety standards were met and failure to supply a driver with a daily inspection schedule. Tillsonburg, Ont. veterinarian faces additional sexual assault charges A Tillsonburg man who previously faced nine sexual assault charges is facing five additional charges in an ongoing investigation involving allegations related to three more victims. Ontario Provincial Police said a 38-year-old man was charged Friday with four counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation. The man was previously charged on Oct. 7 with nine counts of sexual assault involving two victims. Police said he worked as a veterinarian in Oxford County and North Bay. The accused remains in custody pending a bail hearing before the Ontario Court of Justice. Investigators are asking anyone who may have experienced similar circumstances or has information about the investigation to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122. A publication ban has been issued, and police said they cannot release further details. It took almost 19 years to identify Tammy Penner’s remains. The days leading up to her death are still a mystery. Ontario Provincial Police haven’t given up hope they will solve the suspicious death of a woman whose remains were found near Rockwood, Ont., in 2005. They also believe truck drivers have the crucial clue that would close the case. A body was discovered in a wooded rest area along Highway 7, between Rockwood and Guelph, on Aug. 28, 2005. Her name remained a mystery for almost 19 years. In April 2024, she was identified as 41-year-old Tammy Eileen Penner. Police said investigative genetic genealogy helped establish a presumptive identification, which was confirmed by comparing her DNA to family members. While investigators now know who she is, there are still no answers about what happened to Penner or how she ended up in the area. Discovery of remains A passerby who was walking near the rest area was the one who made the disturbing discovery. OPP said investigators didn’t know much about the woman but believed she was left there about a month before her body was found. “They quickly determined that the body had been dragged into the bush area,” Det. Insp. Randy Gaynor told CTV News in September 2026. She was covered by a ‘Woods’-branded sleeping bag, and investigators determined her clothing had been purchased in the Montreal area. The woman also had a partial denture to replace two missing upper teeth. Police said that was related to a previous fracture of her cheekbone, nose and left eye socket, which had healed before her death. A $50,000 reward was offered in 2010 for information that led to the woman’s identification. Identifying Tammy By 2022, investigators had turned to forensic and investigative genetic genealogy (IGG). They submitted a DNA sample, which came back with a potential match in early 2024. Police said additional testing confirmed it was Tammy Eileen Penner of Chilliwack, B.C. CTV News asked investigators why it took so long to get a positive match. “Tammy was in somewhat of a decomposed condition when she was found,” Gaynor explained. “That’s why the identity was difficult to make.” “The length of time for IGG analysis varies depending on several circumstances, including [the] traditional genealogy process or the time spent creating a profile from a DNA sample,” Agata Czajkowski, a strategic communications advisor for the OPP’s Criminal Investigation Branch, said in 2024. “Additionally, the only certified/accredited labs that perform IGG are located in the United States, which will increase the time it takes to receive results.” While Penner had been identified, there were still questions surrounding her cause of death. Retracing Tammy’s steps Police said Penner travelled from Chilliwack to Abbotsford, B.C., before making her way to Ontario. “In June of 2005, she was at Mountain View Mall in Midland, Ont., and subsequently around the time of Saturday, July 30, 2005, she was dropped off at the now-closed Husky Truck Stop, [located on] Highway 401 and Dixie Road in Mississauga,” Gaynor said. Penner was also spotted near a cream or beige-coloured transport truck shortly after she was dropped off and may have been wearing a beige tank top, black corduroy shorts and carrying a blue sleeping bag. Investigators would like to speak to anyone who worked at or visited the truck stop in the summer of 2005 and remember seeing Penner or the people she was travelling with. “We believe that truck drivers out there would know Penner or know about her,” Gaynor said. Investigators still trying to establish a timeline Police said there is still a significant gap between those last reported sightings and the discovery of Penner’s remains. Investigators are trying to piece together her movements during the final weeks of her life, including how she ended up at the rest area along Highway 7. “At that point in time, the family knew that she was travelling back and forth from Alberta to Ontario, but they didn’t have specifics,” Gaynor said. “There’s several months in between her last sighting in Midland, when we know that she was dropped off, and then there’s a month until she’s found.” Teams have searched the wooded area where her remains were found but those searches have not turned up any additional clues. ‘Someone out there knows about Tammy’ The investigation remains active more than 20 years after Penner’s death. “Someone out there knows about Tammy. They know Tammy. They know about her travels. They know who her associates were,” Gaynor insisted. “We ask them to please come forward so we can get more about the circumstances surrounding her death and provide them to the family.” Police said any recollection, no matter how insignificant it may seem, could help move the investigation forward. Roadside memorial A memorial for the then-unidentified woman was established by the Rockwood Knights of Columbus with the hope it would elicit new tips in the case. Today, Penner is remembered with a memorial stone, sign and bench near the site where she was discovered. Police said those have been maintained by a dedicated member of the public. Anyone with information about Penner, her movements in Ontario prior to Aug. 28, 2005, or the circumstances surrounding her death is asked to contact the Ontario Provincial Police. This is part of an ongoing series dedicated to cold and unsolved cases in southwestern Ontario. More stories can be found at Unsolved 519. Cambridge man celebrates seeing 1,000 movies at a theatre Tuesday night movie nights take on a very special meaning for a Cambridge man. For the last 25 years, Timothy Hunter has made it his mission to head to Cineplex Cinemas at Cambridge Centre on Tuesdays to catch a flick. “Being here enhances everything - the quality of the movie, your memory of it, the thrills, the laughs,” Hunter told CTV News. “Everything is just bigger and better on the big screen.” But on Wednesday, Hunter switched up his usual movie night to celebrate a major milestone. “We’re celebrating my 1,000th movie with Street Fighter. It just happened to open this week so that was convenient and also, I’m a huge fan of the video game,” he explained. The tradition started with a spreadsheet he was using to track his movie ratings. “It’s just been growing over the years,” Hunter said. “I didn’t start tracking it with Galaxy [Cinemas staff] until I hit 800. That was a milestone for me because I was like, ‘OK this is getting kind of huge.’” Astra Horner has been the general manager at Cineplex Cambridge for the last 15 years and said Hunter is a welcomed familiar face. “Every time he comes to the movies, he talks to our staff, to our manager. He’s been coming here forever. Everyone knows him really well,” Horner said. “We do have our dedicated guests, regulars that either come on a Friday or Saturday. He always comes on a Tuesday.” Tuesdays at the cinema are considered ‘cheap night’ with reduced ticket prices. Something Hunter said is perfect for a date night with his wife. “It’s $10 ticket. So, for $20, you can’t find a better deal for entertainment out there,” he said. His routine was disrupted by the pandemic, and he will sometimes miss a screening while his family is travelling. However, sometimes even then he still finds his way to a theatre. “I remember seeing Terminator 3 in Santiago, Chile,” he recalled. Making a memorable moment To celebrate Hunter’s achievement, the Cambridge theatre team threw him a party with a photo booth, cake and his very own red carpet. “Shrek in 2001 was his first movie and then I did a little [balloon] set up with Street Fighter 2026,” Horner said. “We wanted to make it really special for him because I’ve never heard of anyone that’s hit such a milestone.” Hunter has rented out the theatre for his friends and family to join him for the screening. “I’ve got friends from primary school that I haven’t seen in like 30 years coming out tonight. I’m really excited to see these people, and people from my church, neighbours,” he said. The milestone is even on the radar of Cineplex’s head office. “We have known and loved having him come in for years, and I think it is only appropriate that we are throwing some love back at him tonight and recognizing him for 25 years,” Sara Moore, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Cineplex, said. Cinema History The 1,000 films Hunter has recorded are ones that he has paid for as an adult. But, he said he’ll never forget his first time at the cinema when he saw E.T. as a little boy. Now he keeps an eye out for upcoming films that pique his interest. “The first of every month, I’ll watch every trailer online for every movie coming out and then narrow it down to four or five,” he explained. “ His favourite movies include Kangaroo Jack and 300. Meanwhile his least favourite, and the only movie he’s ever walked out of, was Solaris with George Clooney.
