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Missing woman case remains open

The case of a Red Deer woman missing since 2002 remains an active police investigation.

The case of a Red Deer woman missing since 2002 remains an active police investigation.

A person of interest in the disappearance of Nicole Hoar, related to B.C.’s Highway of Tears, took a polygraph test.

Leland Switzer, who was arrested for the murder of his brother, became a suspect in the 2002 disappearance of Hoar, 25.

He has not been charged with anything related to Hoar.

B.C. RCMP confirmed that Switzer has taken a polygraph test in regard to Hoar’s disappearance.

But police have not released the results of the test.

RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen said on Monday that more than 100 people have taken polygraph tests during the Project E-Pana investigation, an investigation into the series of unsolved murders with connections to Hwy 16.

“The Nicole Hoar investigation remains active and ongoing and all possible investigative techniques are being used in order to solve this case,” said Thiessen.

“It is a complex investigation and we are not in a position to discuss the specifics around Nicole’s case. However, no one has been charged in connection with her death. The search for answers is also continuing in the other E-Pana cases. We continue to encourage the public to come forward with any information they may have.”

Switzer became a person of interest in the disappearance of Hoar in 2009. Switzer’s property near Prince George, where Hoar had been staying, was previously searched but Switzer was never charged.

Hoar was working as a tree planter when she disappeared on June 21, 2002, along Hwy. 16. At the time, she was hitchhiking to Smithers to meet her sister.

At least 18 women have either disappeared or been killed near Hwy 16 in northern B.C. since 1969.