OK RCMP seeks public assistance in ongoing investigation of violent incident

RCMP seeks public assistance in ongoing investigation of violent incident against a North Okanagan area woman
http://bc.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=1075&languageId=1&contentId=52919

Vernon/North Okanagan
File # 2017-20142
2017-10-13 16:30 PDT

The Vernon North Okanagan RCMP are investigating an Okanagan male in relation to an alleged incident involving threats made to a woman. Investigators are seeking both information and advising the public of the possible risk to the general public and women sex workers.

On Monday August 28, 2017, the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP responded to an incident where a woman reported being threatened by a man with a firearm in a North Okanagan rural area. To date investigators have established that a woman had attended a pre-arranged meeting with a man in the area of Salmon River Rd in the North Okanagan. The meeting had been set up via an online website utilized by escorts and sex workers.

The victim reported to police, that upon arriving at the agreed upon location in her own vehicle, the male suspect produced a firearm and threatened her. The victim was able to flee the scene unharmed.

Investigators subsequently arrested a 36 year-old man who resides in the area of Salmon River Rd and is known to frequent the Okanagan and Shuswap areas. The man was subsequently released as no charges were laid, however the police investigation continues.

In effort to further this investigation and possibly bring to light, information regarding this matter and possibly other similar incidents, the description of the male who was arrested is being released.

The male is described as:

Height 5’6;
Weight 140 lbs;
Blue eyes;
Dirty blond hair;
Known to be a drug user.
In light of this incident, the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP, encourages the public and especially escorts and sex workers that they take any measures that they deem necessary to safeguard their personal safety.

RCMP investigators are asking that anyone with information about this matter or any other similar incidents to contact the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP at 250-545-7171 or via Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.


Released by

Cpl. Dan Moskaluk

District Advisory NCO (Media Relations)
South East District
1168 Main Street, Penticton B.C. V2A-5E8
Office: 250-770-4754
Cell: 250-863-7433
Fax: 250-492-4851

Communities on edge as search carried out on B.C. farm where human remains found

The discovery of human remains on a rural British Columbia property, in an area where several women have gone missing, has prompted an exhaustive police investigation that continued on Tuesday.
RCMP officers and forensics teams are using excavators to search a farm on Salmon River Road, in the North Okanagan area, after the remains were discovered during the execution of a search warrant on Saturday.
Police say it’s unclear whether the remains belong to one person or multiple people. Investigators have not made any links between the discovery and the missing women, but members of neighbouring communities say they are on edge and want answers.
Over the past 18 months, at least five women have gone missing in the area. The missing women have been identified as Caitlin Potts, 27, Ashley Simpson, 27, Deanna Wertz, 46, Traci Genereaux, 18, and Nicole Bell, 31.
Simpson was last seen in April. She told her family that she planned to hitchhike to Ontario before she vanished. Her father John has been tirelessly searching for his adventurous daughter.
“It just breaks all of us here as family that she went missing for unknown reasons,” he told CTV News. “Every time something like this comes up, it’s a heartache.”
Police have told the Simpson family that this investigation is likely unrelated to Ashley’s disappearance. Still, John worries because the farm they are searching is so close to where she lived with her boyfriend.
“If it’s her we can bring her home and get closure,” John said. “If it’s not her, then we go through this whole routine again when something else happens, and we go through the emotional roller coaster.”
The Wertz family is also nervously following the investigation. Deanna was Ashley Simpson’s neighbour. She went for a walk in July 2016 and never returned.
In August, a woman believed to be an escort said a man threatened her at gunpoint in the Salmon River Road area. The alleged attack prompted police to issue a warning to sex workers in the area.
Curtis Wayne Sagmoen, a 36-year-old Salmon River Road resident, was charged in connection with that incident. Sagmoen, who is now in police custody, sometimes lived at the farm where the human remains were found.
The Mounties have not made any connections between the gruesome discovery and the alleged attack that led to charges against Sagmoen

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/commun...-b-c-farm-where-human-remains-found-1.3646593