CANADA Canada- Eli Wood, 25, student@ Sir Wilfred Laurier Univ., missing after fire (poss. arson)@ home, Kitchener, Ont.,19 Oct., 2025, *Foul play suspected*

[SchwiftyShadesOfGrey]

I have not seen any reports of EW's relationship status. Only that he liked to stay in. Only going out if he had to.

In criminology and pscychology, there are instances where one person has a one-sided infatuation with the other. Certainly, if the focus person rejects them, they can 'lose it', even become unexpectantly violent.

That someone he knew visited or lured him outside is a strong theory IMO. All you've said here makes sense IMO, but we have no foundational proof about it since we aren't law enforcement. What bothers me is this person may be someone he met 'analogue' is what they call it. That means there may not have been a digital relationship! There may be no text or email. Like if it was a barber, coffee shop worker, gardener, repair person, neighbour, school or work peer, faith community, casual repeated encounter like seeing same person on a bus, etc. Those are 'analogue' relationships. And may be difficult to trace.

However, without case-specific evidence, your theory remains one of many theoretical possibilities so we are SPECULATING (I always point that out to not target anyone accidentally).

The only reason I think there may be a digital trace is that this person likely contacted Eli beforehand to be let into the apartment. If a barber or a coffee shop worker shows up on one's doorstep in the middle of the night unannounced they are not likely to let them in.

 

[Claroon]

Why was the fire started? To hide the evidence? If it was to burn down the phone and laptop it's a very inefficient way of getting rid of the evidence, it is a lot easier to take it and destroy it more meticulously. I would think most fires actually are bad at destroying electronic devices as often memory can still be recovered. It requires a lot of resources though, I'm sure police are pursuing this. Alternatively, if there was more evidence like traces of DNA, signs of struggle, murder weapon, starting a fire makes more sense. If there was struggle however, other tenants or neighbors could have heard it. Also Eli, being generally very cautious, would have likely called for help if there was struggle. Another option for starting the fire is just out of rage or impulse, if the perp is mentally unstable. Finally, it's possible that arson was the main crime. For example someone threw a Molotoff cocktail through the window. Then Eli could run have run out in horror, seen the perp and the perp had to hide their tracks by abducting Eli. This seems unlikely though because I would imagine Eli would tend to his dog rather than running outside when the apartment is on fire. In case of this scenario the fire investigators would have found this out.

Yes, you are correct. In cases where a fire and a disappearance intersect, two departments work together and the possibilities can include attempted evidence concealment, an impulsive or emotionally driven act, or the fire being the primary incident with the missing person becoming involved afterward. Which is was, we'd all like to know!!

The specialists will look at fire origin point, possible accelerants, burn patterns, and note who (dog) and what was present or absent (missing phone, laptop, personal items, shoes, bedding, coat, etc.)

This is why fire investigators (e.g., the Fire Marshal’s office) typically works alongside police major crime units in situations like this: one establishes the cause and origin of the fire, while the other handles any potential criminal aspects.

Like in your example, without knowing the forensic results, we can come up with multiple explanations that are speculation, not facts for us. We'd all like to know the answers.

 

[Claroon]

The only reason I think there may be a digital trace is that this person likely contacted Eli beforehand to be let into the apartment. If a barber or a coffee shop worker shows up on one's doorstep in the middle of the night unannounced they are not likely to let them in.

Yes, it seems more likely the person may have been there before. Though some 'stalker' types, might have followed him home. I'm not thinking just a barber or coffee shop worker, but someone EW would have talked to to cause the person to want a relationship of some sort. I suspect it is EW's kind nature others have pointed to --willling to help anyone--that may have drawn this perp to him. What do you think?

 

[Claroon]

@SchwiftyShadesOfGrey said: 2. Why is Eli missing? If this was a hate crime or a robbery gone wrong the perp would not go through the trouble of trying to get rid of the body. So it is either abduction, or a murder where the perp had the need to hide the body. This is where the relationship status question comes back into play - if there were no people who would have to hide the body due to the "crime of passion" situation, then abduction is more likely. I'm also sure the police looked into this right away. Another scenario is that Eli left on his own suffering a mental breakdown. Knowing his mental health situation would be helpful in figuring this out.

I agree. He wasn't left there with the dog to die. I presented in another post the possibility that something freaked out EW and he could have had a medical incident. I don't know all he suffered with, but asthma was mentioned on FB and could have been an asthma attack, could have been another issue like if he had POTS which is a caridadic response. And there was a FB report of him having a hearing-related issue. These were FB posts of a friend of the family and we are not allowed to post them here.

So if EW passed out, that could have caused the perp to get scared and remove him??

As for your last point of this paragraph, I have read that it is hard to read a person's true mental health situation if they plan to take their life. I know a person who's partner was under psychiatric care, kissed him, left for 'work' the next day and jumped off a building. He was not prepared. She had not said anything 'off' to alert him. His family seems to state that is not something EW would do as he was so focused on his invention and career.

 

[Claroon]

The "crime of passion" scenario could also be related to Eli's financial troubles. If someone wanted to target him personally they could gain his trust by offering financial help. This could be the premise to get into his apartment on Oct 19th.

You have picked up a lot of our scenarios from your post reading. This is definately a possibility. Hopefully there is a digital trail if that occurred.

I still hopes you're okay.

I want to hope that Eli is missing by choice. I don't like the other possibilities.

Another sleuth suggested maybe he wanted to start a new life, and left. That is the happy thought. Mid- almost getting his Masters, the timing doesn't align IMO.

 

[Claroon]

Doing some research on how cases are investigated in Ontario. This document is interesting. e-Laws | Ontario.ca

So many divisions covering various aspects. A few points about what may be happening:

DIGITAL - Investigators are likely executing orders to obtain encrypted data from service providers like Google, Meta, or cellular carriers. By 3 months, they will be deep-diving into months of location history, private messages, and deleted content to identify who Eli was in contact with.

ARSON & FORENSICS - The Fire Marshal will be analyzing chemical accelerants and physical evidence that might link a specific person to the scene. They most likely already collected and submitted personal items like toothbrushes, hairbrushes, razors...for DNA sampling.

WITNESSES - They may return to re-interview friends, family, and associates at this later date once the shock has worn off. They withhold info so witnesses don't create a story read on the Internet. They base answers on known facts.

FINANCIAL - Ongoing monitoring of bank accounts, etc. are monitored to prove the person did not voluntarily walk away to start a new life.