2009-Kostin, Sergi-1/17/2009, Halifax, N.S.-40

[Ell]

Police seek public’s help to find missing person

Halifax News Net

Halifax Regional Police is seeking the public’s help in locating a missing Dartmouth man.
Forty-year-old Sergei Kostin was last heard from Saturday at about 3:30 p.m. He was a driver for Bob’s taxi, operating a green Chev Impala bearing roof light #367. Mr. Kostin picked up a fare on Gaston Road at about 3:30 Saturday and has not been heard from since.
His employer contacted police yesterday to report this information. His whereabouts are not known at this time. Sergei Kostin is a white male, balding, with what is described as a small build.
Anyone with information either on Sergei Kostin’s whereabouts or that they feel would be valuable to investigators in any way, is asked to contact 490-5016. Information can also be reported anonymously, to Crime Stoppers, at 1-800-222-8477. http://www.halifaxnewsnet.ca/index.cfm?sid=212989&sc=608

[Ell]

http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/in...pic=41633&st=0&

[tatertot]

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1114484.html

Body found in North Preston
Discovery made 1 km from missing cabbie’s burned car
By DAVENE JEFFREY and JOHN McPHEE Staff Reporters
Thu. Apr 2 - 5:09 AM

Investigators found a body Wednesday afternoon in the Preston area, about a kilometre away from where the burned-out car of a missing taxi driver was discovered in January.

Police haven’t released any details about the identification of the body, which was found at about 4:30 p.m. in snow and bushes about six metres off a dirt section of Upper Governor Street.

The spot is about 500 metres from the centre of North Preston.

"We believe the body has been there for a while," said Cpl. Joe Taplin, an RCMP spokesman.

Officers were walking along the dirt road looking for the body of Sergei Kostin.

The 40-year-old cabbie with Bob’s/Bluebell Taxi in Dartmouth hasn’t been seen since he went to pick up a fare at a variety store on Gaston Road in Dartmouth at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 17.

Twenty minutes later, the global positioning system in Mr. Kostin’s cab was disabled at the end of Johnston Road in Cherry Brook.

One of the searchers Wednesday spotted something in the snow and stepped closer to get a better look, Cpl. Taplin said.

By 5:30 p.m., forensics and major crime investigators were at work.

They were expected to be at the scene overnight and it would likely be several hours before the body was moved, Cpl. Taplin said.

He could not say whether the body was that of a man or a woman or whether there were any obvious signs of trauma.

Cpl. Taplin said it will likely be today before those sorts of details are released, and an autopsy will likely be conducted today.

The recent mild weather likely helped officers in making the discovery, he said.

By late Wednesday afternoon, police had closed off access to the area and were turning away any vehicles that attempted to pass.

Upper Governor Street is one of only two ways in and out of North Preston, said Cpl. Joe Taplin.

The roadway is littered with old tires, other garbage and no dumping signs. At one point, a large sign warns that the area is under surveillance for illegal dumping.

Mr. Kostin was reported missing on Jan. 17 by co-workers at Bob’s.

A day later, his burned-out green Chevrolet Impala was found behind an abandoned North Preston building.

Mr. Kostin is a native of Ukraine who came to Halifax in 1993. He has a wife and two children in Ukraine.

By 2006, he had amassed a huge debt and started bankruptcy proceedings in August of that year.

He used 17 credit cards and owed $142,200 when he filed his bankruptcy papers that summer, according to Nova Scotia Supreme Court documents.

The documents say he used credit cards to fund his gambling activities, used some credit cards to pay debts owed on others and successfully applied to increase his borrowing limits a year before his insolvency.

He increased his debt by $70,000 during that year. He sold $40,000 worth of investments to pay for his 13-year-old son’s treatment at a Ukrainian children’s hospital in 2005.

His missing person’s case has been added to the province’s major crimes rewards program, which offers cash rewards of up to $150,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

"Oh my God," a driver who has known Mr. Kostin for about five years said when told that a body had been found.

In an interview Wednesday evening, he said he believes Mr. Kostin got caught in the middle of trouble among his passengers.

"He could have witnessed something," said the driver, who asked not to be named.

He said he doesn’t believe Mr. Kostin’s disappearance had anything to do with his money problems.

The 50-year-old said the level of violence in Halifax has him thinking about changing jobs. He criticized taxi companies for not doing enough to protect drivers.

"When you serve the public, you don’t know" what kind of situation you might face on the job, he said.

"My wife won’t let me work at night. She says she doesn’t want me to wake up in the cemetery."

Mr. Kostin was "a good guy" who was planning to return soon to Ukraine to start a business with his wife, the driver said.

Police searched the woods around Johnston Road in Cherry Brook last Thursday after responding to a tip about an empty, grave-sized hole about 30 metres off the road.

A pile of rocks was found at the end of the road. Police excavated the area but found nothing.

Residents speculated that the hole and rocks were the result of water testing in the area.

[tatertot]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianp...asouaTsB-oovZrQ

Man whose body found in Halifax-area woods was homicide victim: police
1 hour ago

HALIFAX, N.S. — Police say a man whose body was found in a wooded area near Halifax was the victim of a homicide.

The body has not yet been identified. The remains were found Wednesday in the Preston area as police searched for clues in the disappearance of a missing cab driver.

Sergei Kostin of Dartmouth, N.S., was last seen Jan. 17 after picking up a fare.

Police say the unidentified body was discovered about a kilometre from where Kostin's burned-out taxi was found shortly after he went missing.

Kostin, a 40-year-old Ukraine native, moved to Halifax in 1993.

[Begood]

Missing taxi driver's body ID'd

METRO CANADA
April 04, 2009 9:33 p.m.

The RCMP have confirmed a body found near North Preston is that of missing cabbie Sergei Kostin.

The body was found Wednesday afternoon near where Kostin’s burned-out taxi was discovered in January.

“We believe the body has been there for a while,” RCMP Cpl. Joe Taplin said earlier this week.

Kostin picked up a fare on Gaston Road in Dartmouth on Jan. 17 and hadn’t been seen since. Three days after his disappearance, Kostin’s burned taxi was found in North Preston.

The 40-year-old from the Ukraine has a wife and two children in his homeland.


Police have been searching the area since January, but officers discovered the body laying about 20 feet from Upper Governor Road on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.

They want to speak with two males who are believed to have been his final customers of the day.
http://www.metronews.ca/halifax/local/article/208293

[Guard Dog]

http://gov.ns.ca/just/public_safety/reward...tail.asp?cid=57

Homicide
DOB: 68-05-10

The Government of the Province of Nova Scotia is offering a reward in the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the murder of Sergei KOSTIN.

Sergei Kostin, a 40-year-old taxi driver for Bob’s Taxi, was dispatched in the afternoon of January 17, 2009, to pick up a cab fare at 21 Gaston Road, Dartmouth, NS. Investigators are interested in speaking with two males who are believed to be his cab fare at this location. Neither of these men were identified.

On January 20, 2009, his burnt out taxi was located at the end of Downey Road, North Preston, NS. He drove a green Impala, NS license plate DPS 968, car number 367. An extensive search of the surrounding area failed to reveal his whereabouts. At the time of his disappearance Sergei Kostin was wearing brown boots, jeans and a green short style jacket.

On April 1, 2009, police located the body of Sergei Kostin about one kilometre from where his burnt-out cab was discovered in North Preston.

Sergei Kostin is of Ukranian decent. His wife and children currently reside in the Ukraine.

Any person with information regarding the person(s) responsible for the murder of Sergei KOSTIN should call the Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes Program at 1-888-710-9090.

The reward is payable in Canadian funds and will be apportioned as deemed just by the Minister of Justice for the Province of Nova Scotia. Employees of law enforcement and correctional agencies are not eligible to collect this reward.

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