One of the suicides was Captain Michael Gorhum, who served for 25 years with the San Antonio Police Department in Texas.
Gorhum was found dead just days after his email address was revealed to be in the database along with two other officials from the city, including another officer from the San Antonio Police Department.
Toronto Police Acting Staff Superintendent Bryce Evans also announced that Avid Life Media is offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the Impact Team hackers.
Evans addressed the Impact Team directly during the conference, as well as members of the hacking community who may have information which would help authorities identify them.
"Your actions are illegal and will not be tolerated. This is your wake-up call," Evans said in a message to the Impact Team.
"To the hacking community who engage in discussions on the dark web and who no doubt have information that could assist this investigation, we're also appealing to you to do the right thing," Evans said. "You know the Impact Team has crossed the line. Do the right thing and reach out to us."
Evans did not go into detail about the suicides, other than stating that he received the reports on Monday morning. Instead, he spoke generally on the profound effects that being outed on the infidelity site may have.
"The social impact behind this (hacking) — we're talking about families. We're talking about their children, we're talking about their wives, we're talking about their male partners," Evans told reporters.
He also spoke at length regarding scams and extortion of users who may be desperate to stop the exposure of their infidelity.
"It's going to have impacts on their lives. We're now going to have hate crimes that are a result of this. There are so many things that are happening. The reality is… this is not the fun and games that has been portrayed."
In the news conference, Evans stated that Avid Life Media became aware of the breach eight days before the Impact Team went public, on July 12.
The company first learned they had been hacked when employees turned on their computers and received a message from the hackers as Thunderstruck by rock band AC/DC began playing on their desktops. The company waited several days before contacting law enforcement.
The investigation has now grown to include international law enforcement, with the Department of Homeland Security as the latest agency to sign on to assist. The FBI and Canadian federal and provincial police are also working to find the hackers.
