A hunch about a pick-up on an abandoned logging road near Vanderhoof led police to the body of a murdered teenage girl and the arrest of a 20-year-old Prince George man on Saturday night.
Late Sunday RCMP confirmed two officers, with the help of Conservation Services, discovered a dead 15 year old female near Highway 27 on Nov. 27. Mounties did not give her name, cause of death, nor any other details past reporting she is from the Fraser Lake area, she was killed hours before she was discovered, and her next-of-kin have been notified.
RCMP also did not disclose the identity of the 20-year-old man, arrested alone in his truck 22 kilometres north of Vanderhoof. He remains in police custody and charges are pending.
"The state of the young girl indicated she had been murdered," said Corporal Dan Moskaluk, a police spokesperson.
Police said the grisly discovery and subsequent arrest started with a chance encounter on Highway 27.
Two RCMP officers, one from Vanderhoof, the other from Fort St. James, earlier that night agreed to meet each other halfway between the two communities.
As the Fort St. James officer drove south, he spotted a GMC pick-up truck turning onto the highway off an unused road at about 9:45 p.m. The officer considered the vehicle suspicious, given the time of night and the area, and pulled it over.
After talking with the driver, the officer detained him.
With the Mountie from Vanderhoof now on the scene, the pair requested the help of a Conservation Services Officer and began a search.
"On his arrival, the conservation officer followed the vehicle tracks back into the area from which it emerged," said Cpl. Moskaluk. "The area with fresh snow cover was undistrubed by little else, if anything, but the truck which had been stopped by the officer."
At 11:50 p.m., the conservation officer located the body of the 15 year old a distance away from the road.
The RCMP North District Major Crimes unit is on scene conducting the investigation.
Cpl. Moskaluk said investigators from Prince George working on the death of Cynthia Maas are consulting with those working on the murder of Fraser Lake area teen.
RCMP discovered the body of the 35-year-old Maas on Oct. 8 at L.C. Gunn Park in Prince George. Her death is considered a homicide.
"Nothing has been ruled out," said Cpl. Moskaluk.
