Police are investigating the discovery of human remains that were found inside a burning vehicle on Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation Thursday, to see if the remains inside yield a match to a report of a missing person.
Shellbrook RCMP first heard the complaint of the burning vehicle in Ahtahkakoop at 10:13 a.m. CST on Thursday.
A member from the detachment attended and found the burning vehicle, with some fire burning in the surrounding bushes. The member did not search the inside of the vehicle before departing, according a Shellbrook RCMP news release.
Around 5 p.m. the same day, Shellbrook RCMP said they got two calls reporting a missing person that had last been seen around 11 p.m. the night before. Police began an investigation, based on the information given to them by a concerned family member.
Shortly after receiving the missing person report, police received information there was a burned-out vehicle on Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation and the vehicle possibly contained human remains, according to the release.
Police arrived on the scene and found that the burned-out vehicle was the same vehicle that had earlier been reported as being on fire. As human remains were found inside, police said they secured the area and contacted the RCMP major crime unit to assist.
As darkness fell, police decided to hold the scene until daylight, and to request further investigation from the forensic identification section, a traffic reconstructionist, the provincial Coroner and a fire scene examiner.
The vehicle has now been removed.
Police said the human remains will go to Saskatoon for a post-mortem exam scheduled for early next week, which will determine if the remains are related to the person reported as missing.