After 137 days, the mother of a missing Edmonton teenager has received the news she knew in her heart was already true: her son, Samuel Bird, is dead and his remains have finally been found.
The Edmonton Police Service said investigators found the remains of the Indigenous 14-year-old in a rural area outside of Edmonton on Thursday.
“After a lengthy and complex investigation, we are pleased to be able to conclude this file and hopefully bring some measure of resolution and justice to Samuel’s loved ones, who have been searching tirelessly for him,” said EPS homicide Det. Jared Buhler, the lead investigator in Samuel’s case.
A day before Samuel’s remains were found, a man was arrested and charged with over a dozen crimes.
Bryan Farrell, 38, was taken into custody on Oct. 15 and charged with second-degree murder and interfering with a body in relation to the homicide of Samuel Bird.
Police said Farrell is also charged with 13 other offences: two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of arson to property with disregard for human life, arson to property, unauthorized possession of a firearm, two counts of possession of a dangerous weapon, three counts of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon (bear spray), uttering threats towards Alanna Bird, and fraud over $5,000. (Scroll down for more on his criminal charges.)
Edmonton police said Farrell is the only person arrested and charged in the homicide.
“At this time, police are not looking for other suspects in relation to the murder,” police said in their news release on Thursday.
“Investigators are aware of ongoing social media speculation on this file, and wish to remind the public that harassment and threatening behaviour is unlawful.”
The Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations expressed its deepest condolences and prayers to the family and loved ones of Samuel Bird on Thursday.
The case generated an immense outpouring of interest and action, with dozens of strangers from across Western Canada joining friends and family in the search for the Indigenous teenager who went missing on June 1.
Get daily National news
“My son Samuel has been located, a big thank you to the Edmonton police for locating him,” his mom Alanna Bird said in a post on Facebook on Thursday afternoon.
Bird thanked the small army of friends, family and volunteers who helped in the search, posting missing person posters and scouring areas both within Edmonton and outside the city.
“Also I want to thank the searchers and Samuel’s warriors and the cherished friends I made along the way in hopes of finding him,” she said.
“I want to thank every single person who donated in helps of finding my boy, without all the help we couldn’t of kept this search going.”
Det. Buhler said last week he’d never seen anything like it.
Police said two weeks ago they believed Samuel was murdered. Investigators and volunteers spent four and a half months searching for any sign of the Indigenous teenager.
Last week, police narrowed their focus to a wooded area near Carrot Creek in Yellowhead County, about 160 km west of Edmonton.
Edmonton police said at the time they received a compelling tip that led them to direct resources to the heavily-wooded region.
Police said if the teenager’s remains had been in that area all summer and into the fall, due to the science of decomposition they would likely be searching for bones.
Bird went missing on June 1, after leaving his home to visit a friend in the Canora neighbourhood of west Edmonton.
He was seen on surveillance video at approximately 8:30 p.m., walking through the grounds of Holy Cross School near 151 Street and 104 Avenue, after which he went to a friend’s house near 150 Street and 106 Avenue.
That duplex in the west end was was raided by police on September 18, and a little over a week later the home was torched in what police say was a highly suspicious fire that’s now being treated as arson.
The arson charge laid against Farrell is in relation to that Sept. 29 fire at the duplex, which court documents said he did not own.
The court check also indicated Farrell is accused of trying to defraud TD Insurance of $50,000 on the same day as the fire.
Three counts of assaulting a peace officer charges and a dangerous weapons possession charge were laid after the accused allegedly bear-sprayed three peace officers on Oct. 5.
Farrell was also charged with threats causing bodily harm or death in relation to something that happened last week.
The court documents said on Oct. 9, he allegedly “knowingly utter, convey or cause Jennifer Gordasko to receive a threat to cause death or bodily harm to Alanna Rae Bird.”
Farrell has a lengthy criminal record that pre-dates Bird’s disappearance, court records show, that includes various aggravated assault, weapons and mischief charges.
Comments