RCMP in the North Okanagan brought in a Forensic Search and Evidence Recovery Team (FSERT) to help investigate a suspicious pit found during a community search for Caitlin Potts.
However, police concluded the find was not a burial site. Instead, the force says the rectangular hole filled with liquid was left over from a construction project.
The pit was found by an advocate for missing women and a family member in August as they search a forested area east of Enderby near where Potts was living before she disappeared.
The 27-year-old went missing in February 2016 and RCMP have said her disappearance was “likely a homicide.”
While it has been more than three years since Caitlin Potts disappeared, the search for her has not stopped and the August search that discovered the suspicious pit near Cawley Road and Mabel Lake Road was part of that effort.
The advocate described seeing slimy light coloured matter in the pit and lots of slugs in the area.
The suspicious find was reported to police who responded to the area on Aug. 19.
While advocates continue to have their suspicions about the site, police said their investigation turned up “no evidence to suggest that this pit, located by the advocates, was a burial site based on the findings of the forensic team and the lab.”
“It was determined to be the remnants of constructions,” Cst. Kelly Brett said in an email to Global News.
Potts’ disappearance still raises many questions for those who live in the area.
“It must be horrible for the family not to know what’s going on,” said Allen Clark, who lives in the area.
When he saw the FSERT team show up on Mabel Lake Road for multiple days he was hoping it was a sign that police had cracked the case.
The long-time area resident is one of many people still hoping for a resolution.
“This is my community. When evil happens we like it to be resolved, not just left,” Clark said.
Brett said police are continuing to actively investigate Potts’ disappearance but don’t have any more information about the case for public release right now.
The pit has since been filled in but police tape and markings remain at the site.