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

[Mayjusticeprevail]

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Keeping the conversation going regarding two thoughts -

1. Who might have been out at night that might have seen something? (12 midnight to 6 am)

I can only speculate based on the types of businesses around Major street that there may have been labourers or truck drivers in the early morning hours 4-7 am.

Other possibilities:

• People walking their dogs late at night or at dawn
• People who go into properties to collect bottles or cans from the recycle bins in driveways, porches or backyards around dawn.
• Tow truck drivers looking for vehicles parked illegally after midnight. I noticed that in front of 25 Major street there is no parking sign.
• Taxi, Uber or Lyft drivers dropping people off after the Octoberfest gatherings.
• Young people loitering in major park or one of the parking lots nearby. Sometimes teens or young adults like to hang out after hours in parking lots or parks to drink or smoke.

2. What kind of perp just shows up at that time of the morning?

A night owl (someone who stays up all night or gets up really early. 18+

Verified that last known wherabouts EW was fine at his apt. midnight the 18th. The fire was reported 6 am. The window of activity was midnight to 6 am. We established, it was very dark with low moon, cloud and tree coverage casting shadows. Was around 18 C, no snow, leaves on the ground.

It’s a strange time of day:
• most people are asleep
• streets are empty
• fewer witnesses
• fewer cars
• fewer lights on

IMO, Major Street is not a road a person would take home from a night shift job, to work, or even home from a bar unless a person lived on that street. IMO, there would be few random passersby/witnesses at that time of day.

Hopefully these factors are more favourable to the investigators. That cctv footage and cell tower records will pick up on suspicious vehicles or persons who were seen coming and going from the street.

I even checked the bus schedule and there were no buses running between 12 am - 7:10am on Oct 19.

Link

 

[paris_paris]

Keeping it simple… could Eli have had a guest after midnight? Something may have happened with the guest… it wouldn’t have to be a loud event. They started the fire to hide the evidence inside, but the fire wouldn’t be enough to hide how Eli died, so he was removed and taken elsewhere.

 

[Claroon]

I have learned this window shows strong burn patterns. Nothing had to have been thrown through the window or the window smashed if accelerant was place on the outside wall.

Also, I think that window would be accessible by anyone walking in from the front as it's not fenced off. There is a security light on the neighbour's side though I believe.

Source for photo: (sorry if there is a paywall, I have a subscription) Missing Kitchener resident linked to arson investigation It is also on Google images.

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Further to this theory of a fire can be started outside if accelerant is put on the siding, upon further thought by myself, if the intent was to burn dna, fingerprints, devices, evidence, i think the perp would target somewhere inside instead like the bed, couch, where ever his dna (hair, etc) would have been. Not take a risk of the fire being put out before what he wants 'removed' burns. IMO.

 

[Claroon]

Keeping it simple… could Eli have had a guest after midnight? Something may have happened with the guest… it wouldn’t have to be a loud event. They started the fire to hide the evidence inside, but the fire wouldn’t be enough to hide how Eli died, so he was removed and taken elsewhere.

Yes, and whether the guest was expected or showed up is another matter.
It has been mentioned a guest might have spiked a drink. (speculation) Yes, could be normal human conversation, love making, etc. which no one asks the neighbours if they 'heard' LOL.
I'm not clear on your last sentence when you say "they" started the fire. Do you mean the visitor?

 

[Claroon]

Just adding a simple speculation in: If someone lives within a few houses, the time of day becomes almost irrelevant — they don’t need to be “out,” they just step outside, creep over to EW's house in the dark . . . may or may not be on someone's door camera depending on the route they take.

 

[Claroon]

I can only speculate based on the types of businesses around Major street that there may have been labourers or truck drivers in the early morning hours 4-7 am.

Other possibilities:

• People walking their dogs late at night or at dawn
• People who go into properties to collect bottles or cans from the recycle bins in driveways, porches or backyards around dawn.
• Tow truck drivers looking for vehicles parked illegally after midnight. I noticed that in front of 25 Major street there is no parking sign.
• Taxi, Uber or Lyft drivers dropping people off after the Octoberfest gatherings.
• Young people loitering in major park or one of the parking lots nearby. Sometimes teens or young adults like to hang out after hours in

Add to the list:
• hospitality workers finishing late
• people who stayed at a friend’s place
• people who missed the last bus
• people walking home after a long shift
Early morning shifts:
• bakeries
• grocery stockers
• gas stations
• long‑term care homes

Any of these may have been an incidental WITNESS or have DASH CAM footage. But the reality is, at the time, they wouldn't know what they were seeing or looking for. They wouldn’t know something bad had just happened.

Dash cams overwrite themselves within days, and by the time foul play was publicly reported, much of that footage could already be gone.

Many people don’t watch local news or follow police updates, so they may have never heard the request for information at all.

Unless something stood out to them at the time, most people wouldn’t have the memory, meaning both accidental observations and dash‑cam footage could easily have disappeared before anyone knew they might matter.

 

[paris_paris]

Yes, and whether the guest was expected or showed up is another matter.
It has been mentioned a guest might have spiked a drink. (speculation) Yes, could be normal human conversation, love making, etc. which no one asks the neighbours if they 'heard' LOL.
I'm not clear on your last sentence when you say "they" started the fire. Do you mean the visitor?

Yes, they being the person that might have harmed him.

 

[Claroon]

Yes, they being the person that might have harmed him.

Yes. I read a recent update on a case where the girl had been thrown in the river by the perp and therefore, by the time she was found they could not identify a cause of death. (If I read that correctly.) So you could be right on that. Make it harder for sure to find DNA on the victim and cause, or mislead to make others think he ran away.

 

[Valiant]

I hate to be gruesome, but if something happened to Eli inside the apartment I think the perp would have left the body in the fire.
This all really has me puzzled and I think whatever happened to Eli was in another place. Why the perp went to (or returned to) the apartment to destroy evidence is part of the mystery for sure.

 

[Claroon]

I hate to be gruesome, but if something happened to Eli inside the apartment I think the perp would have left the body in the fire.
This all really has me puzzled and I think whatever happened to Eli was in another place. Why the perp went to (or returned to) the apartment to destroy evidence is part of the mystery for sure.

Yes, many of us have asked, why not just leave EW in the apartment to burn? EW's phone and dog were left so it makes me think he left either forcefully or thought he was stepping out for just a minute.

Criminology research shows that late‑night incidents often don’t follow logical patterns by perpetrators. So many questions, so few answers.

 

[Mayjusticeprevail]

I hate to be gruesome, but if something happened to Eli inside the apartment I think the perp would have left the body in the fire.
This all really has me puzzled and I think whatever happened to Eli was in another place. Why the perp went to (or returned to) the apartment to destroy evidence is part of the mystery for sure.

Many wonder why EW taken or removed.
IMO it was done to make the fire look accidental and throw off criminal investigation.

 

[sunspun]

Could the fire have been started by someone outside the apartment, without the firestarter ever having been inside the apartment? Maybe someone was walking by, someone with arson on their mind, looking for a good target. Is that door where the fire may have started in a somewhat hard-to-see spot? Somewhere somewhat hidden from prying (neighbors') eyes? Where someone could light a fire undetected and then run away?

If so, then what became of EW? Maybe EW saw/heard/realized someone outside his apartment and/or went outside to investigate, encountered the perpetrator, and was possibly attacked by them? Maybe EW was killed and their body taken away to hide DNA evidence?

This would require the perpetrator to have a car very nearby, not be just someone walking by. Makes it seem like the target location was more likely EW's apartment, and not just a semi-random opportune target.

I do think that EW was slight enough in build that they could have been carried away by someone of reasonable strength. Most males, I'd think. And EW's slight build would also have made them more fragile, more likely to be fatally injured in an attack by someone larger than themselves.

 

[Mayjusticeprevail]

Could the fire have been started by someone outside the apartment, without the firestarter ever having been inside the apartment? Maybe someone was walking by, someone with arson on their mind, looking for a good target. Is that door where the fire may have started in a somewhat hard-to-see spot? Somewhere somewhat hidden from prying (neighbors') eyes? Where someone could light a fire undetected and then run away?

With the fire starting around 6 am on a Sunday, it's possible no one was watching so the fire could be started outside. The perp may have known the routine of the household and the neighbourhood and picked that early morning to avoid detection and take advantage of it being responded to as a fire alone. The earliest date we have of police involvement is Oct 20 at 9:29 PM posting to twitter that he was missing.

It may have been really quiet in the neighbourhood... no traffic, businesses closed, and no buses running so there is hope that someone was woken up by sounds of someone coming and going (driving up to the house or back parking area, someone entering or leaving the apartment, and a struggle within the house).

If so, then what became of EW? Maybe EW saw/heard/realized someone outside his apartment and/or went outside to investigate, encountered the perpetrator, and was possibly attacked by them? Maybe EW was killed and their body taken away to hide DNA evidence?

This would require the perpetrator to have a car very nearby, not be just someone walking by. Makes it seem like the target location was more likely EW's apartment, and not just a semi-random opportune target.

We have so few details. I also think the fire was started inside to destroy forensic evidence and that EW was assaulted inside and taken to cover up the crime. There are many places close by where a perp familiar with the area could hide out whether they were walking, had a vehicle or had someone else waiting with a vehicle.

I do think that EW was slight enough in build that they could have been carried away by someone of reasonable strength. Most males, I'd think. And EW's slight build would also have made them more fragile, more likely to be fatally injured in an attack by someone larger than themselves.

Following this logic, because we know EW was small in stature, a perp could have removed him in a large duffle bag or suitcase that was already in the apartment. Something with wheels that would allow a person who wasn't as strong to move faster until they got to another location or vehicle.