A human head has been found in a river in a Mississauga, Ont., park, police said Thursday.

Peel police launched a massive search in Hewick Meadows Park, after a group of hikers discovered a severed foot in the Credit River on Wednesday.

Police divers, search dogs and overhead helicopters combed the downtown park Thursday, with divers eventually finding a human head in the river, about one kilometre north of where the foot was found.

“Due to circumstances regarding the remains, I can’t be specific as to the age, or any other physical attributes of this victim,” Peel Regional Police Acting Insp. Randy Cowan told reporters. “Obviously, we are considering this as foul play, and we treating it as such.”

The hikers who made the first grisly discovery were walking on the Culham Trail, near Eglinton Avenue and Mississauga Road, when they spotted something strange that was half submerged in the Credit River and called police.

On Thursday morning, police confirmed that the discovery was a right foot, thought to belong to a female, which was severed at the ankle.

“It’s a right foot and, distinctive on this foot, was the yellow nail polish,” Cowan said. “That’s the only reason that we believe its female at this point, was that there was bright yellow nail polish on the toes of the foot.”

The foot was not in a bag and there was no footwear attached to it when it was found.

The state of the right foot indicates that it ended up in the water fairly recently, police said.

While police have not yet identified the body parts, the size of both the head and the foot indicate that they likely belonged to an adult, rather than a child, Cowan said.

A coroner was called to the park after the head was found.

Police are also waiting for test results that will determine whether the head and foot belonged to the same person.

Peel police continued their extensive search in the Mississauga park Thursday afternoon and evening, looking for other body parts and evidence.

The search ended around 7 p.m. Thursday and a large part of the park remained closed to the public.

The search was expected to resume early Friday morning.

Police said heavy rain in the past week means that the body parts may have travelled a significant distance.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 905-453-2121 ext. 3205 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).