Body found in Montreal nature park was that of kidnapped cryptocurrency influencer, police say

Quebec provincial police have confirmed that the body found in a Montreal nature park on Oct. 30 was that of kidnapping victim and cryptocurrency influencer Kevin Mirshahi.

In late summer, before Mirshahi’s body was discovered, a woman was arrested and charged in the murder and quadruple kidnapping that occurred in late June in Old Montreal.

On Aug. 22, Joanie Lepage, 32, was charged with the first-degree murder of Mirshahi, 25, in Les Cèdres, a municipality in Quebec’s Montérégie region.

Mirshahi was kidnapped early in the morning of June 21 from a luxury condo on de la Commune Street. Three other people were kidnapped from the condo at the same time. Authorities launched a major police operation to find them.

His body was found around 10 a.m. on Oct. 30 in the Île-de-la-Visitation nature park, near the intersection of Gouin Boulevard East and Lille Street. 

For nearly two weeks, police did not release any information about the identity of the victim, not even an approximate age or gender.

At the time, police said an autopsy would be performed to identify the victim.

In their search, Laval, Que., police found a burned-out SUV that is believed to have been used to transport the victims.

The three other kidnapping victims were found 24 hours later in good health near a bus stop in Montreal’s west end.

With the victims’ testimony, police were able to locate a home in Les Cèdres, where the alleged murder was believed to have occurred in a basement.

Lepage, previously unknown to police, appeared Thursday at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield courthouse.

The woman is also accused of forcibly confining the four victims, according to the arrest warrant issued against her.