Investigators are ramping up their search on a sprawling B.C. farm, in a community where at least five women have gone missing since last year, after human remains were discovered on the property.
More equipment and forensic specialists have been brought in to help with the investigation on the swath of land just south of Salmon Arm, B.C., a community about 110 kilometres north of Kelowna.
Police have been at the 24-acre farm since last week. Human remains were found on the property on Saturday.
The area has since been blocked off with covered fences as at least two RCMP Mobile Command Posts comb through the scene. White tents have been erected, and excavators are on site.
The gruesome discovery comes weeks after a sex worker said she was threatened by a man at gunpoint on the same rural road as the farm, but managed to run to safety.
Curtis Wayne Sagmoen, 36, was arrested and charged with seven crimes, including uttering threats and several counts related to firearms, in connection with the alleged threat.
RCMP said they believe the victim was an escort who agreed to meet him at his home.
He has not been charged in connection with the ongoing execution of the search warrant.
CTV News has learned that Sagmoen received a foreclosure notice for a town house he owned in Metro Vancouver. A former neighbour said he told him he was having a “hard time” before he left the city.
Several residents near the rural property at the centre of the investigation told CTV Vancouver that Sagmoen moved into his parent’s home.
Sagmoen briefly appeared in a Vernon, B.C. court via teleconference on Thursday to face charges in connection with the alleged attack. He was dressed in an orange jumper and appeared tired.
Outside the courthouse, a group of Indigenous women gathered to play drums.
Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said the investigation remains “quite fluid” and that police have no timeline as to when they’ll be finished carrying out their search warrant.
In the last 18 months, at least five women have disappeared in the area. The missing women include Caitlin Potts, 27, Ashley Simpson, 27, Deanna Wertz, 46, Traci Genereaux, 18, and Nicole Bell, 31.
The RCMP has not confirmed whether the remains belong to any of the missing women.
A rally was held in support of the missing women last weekend, and many in the community are concerned that the large scope of the investigation could mean grim news for the families.
Rally organizer Jody Leon, a member of the Splatsin First Nation, said the size of the investigation has many locals worried.
"I saw about 15 police walking arm-and-arm followed by an ATV and a pickup truck, and it was really overwhelming to see that and to see the amount of area that's covered by black tarp," Leon said.
"Quite overwhelming to think about what might have occurred here."
Moskaluk said he’s aware of the concerns but said that, since the search warrant is sealed, the RCMP isn’t releasing further information.
"Given the status of the investigation we're not at liberty to discuss what brought us here," Moskaluk said.
He also cautioned anyone from making connections between the missing women and the human remains on the farm.
"Until these remains have been positively identified, it's too early in the investigation to say whether the discovery is linked or not to any missing person investigations," he told reporters.
He added that the family of the missing women are in touch with RCMP and are being informed of any pertinent information.
Earlier this month, the RCMP issued a public warning to female sex workers in the North Okanagan area following the alleged incident near the farm. Police urged the general public and “especially escorts and sex workers” to take “any measures that they deem necessary to safeguard their personal safety.”
Officials have not publicly linked the alleged threatening incident to the search warrant executed on the farm.
With files from CTV Vancouver
