May 31, 2006 — The search took a difficult turn when the RCMP confirmed that bones discovered near the area where Reggie’s car had been found were human.

At this point, however, no positive identification had been made. Reggie’s personal belongings had been found nearby, but our family was still waiting to learn whether the remains were his.

This CBC News report captures what was known publicly at that stage of the search.

Trying to Understand What Had Been Found

When we first heard that a single bone had been found, my brother and father were puzzled. If these were Reggie’s remains, why had only one bone been found? Why wasn’t the rest of his body nearby?

They began to wonder whether coyotes might have gotten to the body and scattered the remains. My brother and father soon spoke with a local person knowledgeable about coyotes, trying to understand what might happen in that situation and how far remains could potentially be moved. They hoped that understanding the animals’ behaviour might also provide useful information for those continuing to search the woods.

At this point, however, we still didn’t know whether the remains being found were Reggie’s. [I believed they were his remains, but we could not say that with certainty without DNA testing].