KAMLOOPS, B.C. — RCMP say they've identified the remains of a man who went missing more than 50 years ago thanks to DNA profiling technology.
Mounties say in a news release the 41-year-old man from Kamloops, B.C., was reported missing by his family in 1967 after last being spotted in Metro Vancouver.
In 1972, human remains were discovered on a Saturna Island beach but the body couldn't be identified until the remains were exhumed from a Salt Spring Island grave last September.
RCMP say that after a lengthy process performed at a lab, a DNA profile of the deceased was finally obtained.
The missing person file was solved after a family link matched a DNA sample from the man's daughter that was collected in 2014 during a file review of his case.
RCMP are not identifying the man and say the family wishes to remain anonymous.
"Through scientific advancements in identification processes, we are now able to solve such historic cases. In this instance, we were able to piece together the puzzle that had been challenging us on Salt Spring Island since in 1972," Eric Petit, director of the BC Coroners Service Special Investigations Unit, says in a news release.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2021.
The Canadian Press
