Police are investigating whether the suspect charged in connection with the death of Timothy Bosma is linked in any way to the disappearance of a Toronto woman, CTV News has learned.

Laura Babcock was 23 years old when she went missing last July. Now, police are probing her relationship with Dellen Millard, the suspect charged with first-degree murder in connection with Bosma’s death.

Millard, 27, was friends with Babcock. The two spent time together and friends say they even had a romantic relationship just before Babcock went missing.

Babcock’s ex-boyfriend Shawn Lerner told CTV Toronto's Tamara Cherry she was going through a rough time just before she went missing last summer. She had moved out of her parent’s home and was struggling with depression, he said.

Lerner helped put her up in a Toronto hotel and that was the last place he saw her in June 2012. When he couldn’t contact her in the weeks that followed, he went directly to police.

Lerner said police were at first reluctant to take the missing persons report. Police from Toronto’s homicide squad confirmed to CTV News that as far as they were concerned, nothing seemed suspicious about Babcock’s case until Millard was arrested in connection with Bosma’s death.

“They say that first of all, that I’m not a family member and she’s only been missing for a couple of weeks now… that I had no right to know where she was and no cause to be concerned about her whereabouts,” Lerner said.

Lerner said he gave police Millard’s name from the very beginning, along with names of other friends of Babcock. But he said he became very suspicious after he saw Babcock’s phone record, which revealed that she had called Millard 13 times between June 30 and July 3 of last year. The phone records show that her very last call was made to Millard on July 3.

Lerner said he immediately took Babcock’s phone records to police. He said he texted and called Millard a number of times to ask him about Babcock’s calls.

"He doesn't answer me for two days, then I finally say ‘Hey look if you don't have any information that's fine, send me a text back to confirm receipt of this message,’” Lerner said. Around an hour later Lerner said he received a text from Millard asking him to meet for a coffee to discuss the issue.

Lerner said Millard denied receiving Babcock’s calls until he showed him Babcock’s phone record. Millard then told him that Babcock had developed a drug problem and that he had been supplying her with cocaine for months.

With a report from CTV Toronto’s Tamara Cherry