Eight bodies found on Canadian farmland

The bodies of eight men were found inside four vehicles abandoned in a remote wooded area on a farmer’s property in rural southwestern Canada.

Police were not disclosing many details about the deaths in rural Ontario, about 20 miles southwest of the city of London, except to say that four vehicles were involved, including a tow truck, and that the dead were all men. They were found on Saturday morning.

“We’re not in a position to reveal how they were murdered,” said Ontario Provincial Police Sgt Dave Rektor.

Police found the bodies after a call from the property owner, who is not considered a suspect.

An aerial view showed the vehicles parked within 200 yards of each other, with the bodies still inside.

The Ontario coroner and the attorney general’s office declined comment.

A minivan was discovered in a field about 20yds off a dirt road. About 100 yards away, a tow truck was found parked on the shoulder with a small silver car hooked to the back. A fourth car was parked in a clearing about 100yds along the dirt road. The hatch was wide open.

Mary and Russell Steele, who own the property around which the cars were parked, told Global News that the vehicles weren’t there when they took the road home on Friday at around 8.30pm.

They said they called police on Saturday morning after looking inside one of the vehicles and not being able to see anything because of a blanket covering the back window.

“We didn’t see anybody in them, so we just phoned the cops with the licence plate numbers,” Russell Steele said.

“The police opened the back and I could see forms,” his wife said. “I couldn’t tell, but immediately in my mind I thought: 'These are bodies'.”