Bragg Creek search for human remains sees radar and K9 unit used

Police back searching at a Bragg Creek property Police say they have reliable information that has led them to dig up a field west of Calgary in search of human remains.

Calgary police say they've used police dogs and ground-penetrating radar to help them search a piece of rural property in Bragg Creek, Alta., as part of a historic missing persons case.

Police officers have been searching the land along Highway 762, south of Township Road 221A, for the past few days looking for possible human remains.

Though investigators haven't said which case the search is in connection with, they say it’s several decades old.

Speaking at a Wednesday news conference, Staff Sgt. Sean Gregson of the Calgary Police Service's major crimes section said no discoveries have been made so far.

"This is a situation where we have information that's come to us that we believe is reliable, and we know there are families out there that are seeking answers, and we have a duty to help bring closure to the families," he said.

"In this case, we're looking at all the avenues we have. We believe the information is credible, so we're going to do what we can."

Police said on Tuesday the current property owners are co-operating with the investigation and have "no connection" to the case.

On Wednesday, Gregson said police don't believe previous property owners were connected to the case either.

"We don't think any of the previous landowners are involved. We think this was probably a location of convenience more than anything."

He said the search is connected to a single missing person, not multiple, and that it was a Calgary file.

The search is expected to wrap up sometime on Wednesday or Thursday.

"But we never know," Gregson said. "If something is located or changes… we're at the whim of our search as it goes right now."

Brad Resvick says his 19-year-old brother Paul vanished under suspicious circumstances 24 years ago in Calgary.

He has been searching for answers about his brother's case ever since.

"I just want to bring him home and put him to rest beside our mom and give him the dignity he deserves," Resvick said.

The search in Bragg Creek is giving Resvick hope that this will put an end to an open case.

"It's a nightmare. Like, it's something that haunts you for the rest of your days," he said.

Temitope Oriola, a criminology and sociology professor at the University of Alberta, says investigations like this send a strong message.

"That the long arms of the law will catch up eventually with culprits and it's absolutely fundamental that from time to time, we send such messages and we get to the root of such cases, particularly when human lives are involved," he said.

Anyone with information that might be helpful to police is asked to call the Calgary Police Service non-emergency line at 403-266-1234. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers.

"A lot of times, people have information out there, and they may think that we have it, or they're reluctant to provide it," Gregson said. "If we have reliable information and we can follow it up, and corroborate that information, we're going to pursue it."