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2 Toronto police officers charged with misconduct after failing to search thoroughly for Tess Richey

Two Toronto police officers have been charged with misconduct after an internal investigation found the pair failed to search thoroughly for murder victim Tess Richey.

Body was found by her mother 40 metres from an address to which the officers had been called

CBC News ·
Tess Richey is seen in this undated photo provided by her sister, Rachel. (Submitted by Rachel Richey)

Two Toronto police officers have been charged with misconduct under the Police Services Act after an internal investigation found the pair didn't search thoroughly enough for murder victim Tess Richey.

Const. Alan McCullough and Const. Michael Jones, both officers of Toronto police's 51 Division, are charged with two counts of misconduct for neglect of duty, according to a notice of hearing.

Richey, 22, was reported missing last November in the area of Yonge and Wellesley Streets.

She was found dead by her mother 40 metres from the place where the two officers had been called three days earlier, the notice says. Tess Richey, 22, went missing on Nov. 25, 2017, after a night out with a high school friend. Her mother found her body four days later. (Tess Richey/Facebook)

Richey was last seen at about 3 a.m. Nov. 25, 2017, after a night out with a high school friend at Crews and Tangos, a nightclub on Church Street. She was reported missing by a family member later that day.

Both officers had received a radio call at 3:45 p.m. on Nov. 26, 2017 to check an address in relation to the Richey missing persons case. 

When the officers went to the scene, they found out that the spot was the "last known location" where Richey had been seen. 

"You did not search the adjoining property or immediate area thoroughly," the notice reads.

"You did not conduct a canvass of neighbours. You failed to notify a supervisory officer of all of the particulars."

Body found at bottom of stairwell

Christine Hermeston, her mother, and a family friend found Richey's body lying at the bottom of an outdoor stairwell, outside a building undergoing renovation, at 582 Church St. on Nov. 29, 2017.

She was doors away from where she had last been seen. Kalen Schlatter has been accused of the first-degree murder of Tess Richey. (Facebook)

Hermeston drove around four hours to get to Toronto from North Bay, Ont., to search for her daughter.

Richey's cause of death was determined to be neck compression, or strangulation, and the death was ruled a homicide.

Man charged with 1st degree murder

Kalen Schlatter, 21, has been charged with first-degree murder in Richey's death.

He was initially charged with second-degree murder, but the charge was upgraded after police said "new evidence" presented itself.

Police believe Schlatter and Richey did not know each other before the night of her death.

Police were criticized for their failure to find Richey in the days after her disappearance. 

Her death, along with several other disappearances connected to the gay village, led community members to say police were not protecting them.