When a little Yorkie named Sophie went missing, it may have been for a higher purpose.
The missing dog's owners are keeping that in mind, after their foot search for the terrier produced a more gruesome find.
"We had been searching the whole area like crazy," said Sophie's owner Robin Hayer, who called The Citizen only moments after calling police. "My wife and her friend were walking in the woods on Foothills and they found a human body in there."
The body was a few dozen metres west of Foothills Boulevard on a flat meadow dotted with young pines along the base of Cranbrook Hill. Across the boulevard is a residential area. The nearest intersection is Fifth Avenue a short distance to the south of the body's location.
Police are giving no details about the body, other than to confirm its existence.
"We get a fair number of calls from the public telling us there is a body," said Prince George RCMP spokesman Cpl. Craig Douglass. "A lot of times it turns out to not be the case. However, we take each call seriously, and this call had a lot of legitimacy. The witnesses directed us to the scene and indeed it was human remains."
The city's Serious Crimes Unit, along with General Duty Unit and Forensic Identification Unit were soon in control of the area. At the time The Citizen was there, the coroner was also expected to be arriving soon.
"She didn't go up to it, so she couldn't tell a lot of things about it, just that it was a human body," said Hayer, relaying his wife's recollection of the discovery.
"It is far too soon to speculate on the identity of whom this might be, and we are not going to engage in speculation. There will be a proper investigation that is underway now," said Douglass.
Sophie is still missing, but sightings have been reported, which is why the dogs owners have so passionately gone searching for the little grey-and-tan dog.
"We are hoping that it is a sign that we were meant to be out looking, and somebody can maybe be at peace now," said Hayer.
Anyone with information on the missing dog can call 250-552-7355 or 250-552-9701.
Anyone with information about the human remains found Wednesday afternoon are urged to call police at 250-561-3300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS / www.pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca.
