Man charged with murder after woman’s body found on ATV trail

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This article was published 29/08/2022 (1027 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 20-year-old Winnipeg man has been charged with first-degree murder after police found the body of a 20-year-old woman on an ATV trail near Woodridge over the weekend.

The victim and the suspect knew each other, Manitoba RCMP said Monday in a release.

The investigation, which spanned at least three municipalities and involved multiple RCMP detachments, began Saturday at 1:40 p.m. when a caller reported a homicide to Steinbach RCMP.

Officers responded to a residence on Creekside Drive on the east end of Steinbach. The suspect had already fled the scene in his vehicle and officers determined the victim’s body may be with him.

RCMP from the Steinbach, Stonewall, Sprague, and Headingley detachments, along with Traffic Services officers and Winnipeg police, began an intensive search for the suspect that culminated in a Saturday afternoon traffic stop on Highway 52 near Carriere Road, about four miles east of Steinbach.

RCMP said the suspect’s vehicle caught fire during the arrest. The La Broquerie fire department put out the fire, but the victim’s body was not found in the vehicle.

RCMP later obtained information that led them to a remote ATV trail in a rural area south of Woodridge, in the RM of Piney, where the body of a 20-year-old woman was located.

Josh Benoit of Winnipeg was charged Sunday with first degree murder and remanded into custody. His case was put over to Friday following an appearance Monday in Winnipeg provincial court.

The RCMP’s major crime services and forensic identification services continue to investigate.