Recent human remains have been confirmed at a police containment scene in Fort St. James.

"RCMP can confirm that human remains have been located in a vacant home on a property along Lower Road in Fort St. James on the Nak'azdli reserve," said provincial RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Annie Linteau. "The area remains sealed and investigators will continue to process the scene over the weekend. The BC Coroner Service has been notified.

Linteau added, “While we can confirm that we are dealing with what appears to be recent human remains for a deceased person, we require additional time and forensic analysis to confirm the sex of the victim, age, and identity. It is important for us to have the right information with respect to identity; however, given what we know at this time and factors such as the weather, we do believe that this is not related to a historical crime.”

While that rules out any thoughts of Highway of Tears victims, the disappearance of Madison Scott in May, from a lake party about one hour away from this containment scene, has dominated public speculation since the announcement was made Thursday that Mounties had cordoned off an area around a vacant house on Lower Road due to “suspicious findings."

At the time, RCMP spokesman Sgt. Rob Vermeulen said, "“We are aware that there are a number of ongoing investigations in the area, but it would be irresponsible for anyone to jump to any conclusions or make any connections until investigators have had a chance to properly and thoroughly assess and document the scene.

Anyone with information to help The Citizen's coverage of this ongoing issue, email to n...@pgcitizen.ca or call the newsroom at 250-562-2441.

Anyone with knowledge that could help the police in this investigation is asked to contact RCMP. North District headquarters can be contacted at 250-561-3100 and ask for the Major Crime Section.