The RCMP have expanded the area near Prince George, B.C. they're scouring for clues about the disappearance of a 25-year-old woman several years ago.
On Thursday, RCMP officers converged on the former property of a convicted killer to look for fresh evidence linked to the disappearance of Nicole Hoar, who went missing from the area in June 2002.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Annie Linteau said the Mounties' search has moved beyond the property, where officers are working beneath three black tents.
They're now searching a dump site about one kilometre northwest of the first site, looking for items pertaining to Hoar's unsolved disappearance.
An abandoned yellow pickup truck at one of the locations will also be seized as part of the investigation.
Hoar, who was from Red Deer, Alta., vanished while hitch-hiking along Highway 16 near Prince George. She had been working as a tree planter and was travelling to Simthers, B.C., to visit her sister.
Earlier this week, RCMP investigators were granted a warrant to search a two-hectare property 25 minutes west of Prince George.
The land had previously been owned by a convicted murderer named Leland Vincent Switzer. He killed his brother two days after Hoar disappeared, and is serving a life sentence in prison.
"We are supportive of the police investigation and hoping it may further their investigation into the case of our missing daughter," the Hoar family, of Red Deer, Alta., said in a statement released Friday afternoon. "Our thoughts continue to be with Nicole."
"Nicole is just one of many missing persons in that area and our thoughts continue to be with their families as well."
The search is taking place 30 kilometres from the gas station along Highway 16 where Hoar was last seen. Since 1969, 18 women have gone missing along the same route. The 800-kilometre stretch of road connects Prince George to Prince Rupert, B.C. It has become known as the Highway of Tears.
Families of the missing women have asked for a public inquiry into the unsolved cases. In 2006, the RCMP launched a special investigation into the disappearances.
Officers are expected to continue working on the site for several days, Linteau told CTV News Channel on Friday. She would not say what led them to the property.
"All I can say at this point is that it is a historical unsolved homicide and we are looking for evidence, by which of course we mean remains, in this case," Linteau said Friday.
The current owners of the property are not believed to have any connection to the case. But on Thursday, Linteau said a former owner of the property is of interest to police.
Officers from the RCMP's provincial headquarters in Vancouver, from the Prince George detachment and the forensic identification section are involved in the search.
Prince George is the largest city in Northern B.C. It's located about 800 kilometres north of Vancouver.
With files from The Canadian Press
