Police are working to piece together the events that led to the homicide of Oleg Alex Cusnir, who was found dead in his burned out Ford F-350 last week
The Medical Examiner’s Office deemed the death of the 27-year-old Innisfail resident a homicide Friday.
Innisfail RCMP were called to a farmer’s field east of Innisfail last Thursday to a report of a vehicle on fire. The field, located south of Hwy 590 on Range Road 273, has been under investigation ever since the event.
Sunday morning Innisfail Detachment Commander Staff Sgt. Chris Matechuk held a press conference at the Innisfail police station. He said police know when and how Cusnir died, but are not releasing it at this time.
Cusnir was the registered owner of the vehicle and was the sole occupant when it was found engulfed in flames. He had no relation to the property where he was found.
“We have persons of interest we are pursuing during this investigation,” said Matechuk, adding they are not in custody.
“We have no suspects, but we have persons of interest and we are following up with them.”
The Cusnir family is asking for privacy at this time. Though he lived in Innisfail he had previously lived in Red Deer. He emigrated from Moldova at a young age.
“Mr. Cusnir was, in a police sense, not known to us, but some members have spoken to him in the past,” said Matechuk.
Police do not believe organized crime was involved in the homicide.
“The investigation is in the early stages,” said Matechuk.
An RCMP Special Tactical Operations Team conducted a ground search of the area in hopes of finding further evidence for the investigation. Matechuk said new evidence was found, but would not release the details of the evidence.
The RCMP Calgary Major Crimes Unit is the lead on the investigation with the Innisfail detachment providing support.
Anyone with information that could assist this investigation is asked to contact the Innisfail RCMP detachment at 403-227-3341 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com