Laval police said they hope a significant clue found Wednesday will help shed light on the disappearance and homicide of Natasha Cournoyer.

The body of the 37-year-old Piedmont woman was found by a municipal worker on Tuesday near the St. Lawrence River in Montreal.

Natasha Cournoyer's body was found near a St. Lawrence River boat launch in Montreal's east-end Pointe-aux-Trembles district Tuesday (Laval police/Canadian Press)Cournoyer was last seen the evening of Oct. 1 leaving an office building in Laval, where she worked as an employee of Correctional Services Canada.

On Thursday police continued their search of an area in Laval where they said a cellphone tower had picked up a signal from Cournoyer's phone the day after she disappeared.

That is where investigators found "a significant object," said Laval police Const. Nathalie Laurin, who would not elaborate.

Some media outlets have reported that it was personal identification that was found at the site near Highway 19.

Laval police are operating a command post from the parking lot across from the Place Laval office building where Cournoyer worked, and are seeking potential witnesses who may have seen the woman prior to her disappearance.

Autopsy results were expected to be available on Thursday, said Montreal Const. Olivier Lapointe.

Cournoyer's body was clothed, but it's not clear whether a weapon was used in her death, Lapointe said.

Co-workers distressed about disappearance

On the day she disappeared, Cournoyer was talking with her bosses about a promotion, one of her supervisors said at a news conference Thursday.

Johanne Vallée said the correctional service is a tough place to leave a mark, but that Cournoyer managed to do so. She joined the agency in May covering for an employee on maternity leave.

"She was excellent," said Vallée, the highest-ranking corrections official in Quebec.

"She was really professional, quite a dynamic person … For us, it's a big loss."

Vallée dismissed any suggestion Cournoyer's disappearance might have had something to do with her job.

Cournoyer, who worked as an internal communications officer, had visited some corrections institutions but did not have any direct contact with offenders, Vallée said.Cournoyer's boyfriend Michel Trottier stood vigil near a police command post where she was last seen Oct. 1 (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)

Video from security cameras outside the Place Laval building where the agency's offices are located did not reveal whether Cournoyer ever made it to her car, which was parked in a lot across the street.

Vallée said the building's owner is now making arrangements to help workers feel safer late at night.

"They have opened the space of the parking lot so the people can move their car and park their car near the entrance of the building."

The federal minister responsible for Corrections Canada issued a statement about Cournoyer on Thursday.

"I wish to extend my sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of Natasha Cournoyer," Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said.

"Ms. Cournoyer will be remembered for her enthusiasm and energy, as well as her commitment to her role in communications with the CSC."

Cournoyer's on-again, off-again boyfriend Michel Trottier has told Montreal media outlets that he would be willing to submit to a polygraph test at Laval police headquarters.

A test was scheduled, but cancelled after Cournoyer's body was found on Tuesday. Laval police said the emotional distress could have compromised Trottier's test results.

With files from The Canadian Press