Canadian police located the bodies of a woman and toddler on Monday, who are believed to be missing mom Jasmine Lovett and her toddler daughter, Aliyah Sanderson.
Vancouver Sun reports that Calgary authorities found the bodies at around 4 a.m. Monday morning, 31 miles west of Kananaskis Country, close to Grizzly Creek. Mom and daughter disappeared on April 16, sparking a massive search by law enforcement. Police ultimately located the bodies by following cellphone tower data.
According to police, family members reported Jasmine and Aliyah missing a week after they failed to show up for a dinner function, and after Jasmine’s alleged boyfriend, 34-year-old Robert Leemin, claimed he hadn’t heard from them. Jasmine had been living with her daughter in a townhome owned by Leemin for around seven months when she vanished.
Leemin claimed the pair were his tenants, but admitted last month he’d been in an “on again, off again” romantic relationship with Jasmine.
Leemin has been the primary suspect in Jasmine’s disappearance. He was taken into custody last month, but released shortly after. On Monday, police arrested him again in connection with the deaths, according to the Calgary Sun. Charges are still pending as authorities wait for the pair’s official cause death.
Robert Leeming, 34 and originally from the UK, has been arrested after a homicide investigation into the disappearance of his tenants, Jasmine Lovett and Aliyah Sanderson: https://t.co/p7jlW1kjW2
— Ryan C. Rumbolt (@RCRumbolt) May 6, 2019
Leemin maintained his innocence and said he last saw mom and daughter around a week before Easter. He claimed he had no clue what happened to them, according to City News.
Jasmine’s aunt, Josie Sanderson, said last month that she didn’t know a lot about the new man her niece was supposedly dating. Court records, however, indicate that Leeming has three animal cruelty charges, landing him a 10-year ban on owning any animals.
Further, CBC News reports that Leemin’s ex-wife called him “cruel” and said she once feared he would kill her. The woman wrote in a court affidavit that Leemin owned several guns, around 60 knives, and performed online searches about mothers and children who died in fires.
Sanderson added that doting mother Jasmine would have “never willingly” put her little girl in danger.
Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
[Feature Photo: Jasmine Lovett and Aliyah Sanderson/Handout]
