An Alberta man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Carol King.
RCMP announced that Joseph “David” Caissie, 53, was arrested near Saskatoon on Tuesday morning.
Caissie, who is from Bluffton, Alta., has also been charged with offering an indignity to a body.
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RCMP would only say King and Caissie were “known to each other,” however it has been reported that Caissie was King’s ex-boyfriend.
“In any investigation, we try to start with the people closest to the victim. As part of that, David Caissie was known to our investigation from the beginning,” said Staff Sgt. Murray Chamberlin, with the RCMP major crime unit south.
King, 40, was last seen alive on Aug. 6, 2011 at her home in Herschel, Sask.
Four days after she was reported missing, her PT Cruiser was found in a slough approximately one kilometre from her home.
King’s body was discovered in late August 2011 by a volunteer searcher in a field near Herschel.
READ MORE: Family angry over lack of progress in Carol King’s homicide investigation
“In this case, it was a slow, steady process to get to the point where we had the evidence necessary to support a charge,” Chamberlin said.
“Obviously the investigation had been going on for the entire five years as a culmination of that is what got us to where we are today.”
King’s family issued a statement following news of the arrest.
“We are extremely sad, but extremely happy at the same time and have a sense of relief knowing that charges have been laid.”
Caissie is scheduled to appear Wednesday morning in Saskatoon provincial court.
With files from Joel Senick, Wendy Winiewski, The Canadian Press