The burned car that Troy Napope had last been seen driving. Photo courtesy RCMP

The RCMP says they were still busy with the murder investigation of a missing Prince Albert man, even after they made their first arrest.

Skylar Patrick Bird, 29, has been in custody for more than two weeks on charges related to Troy Napope’s disappearance.

However, the public didn’t know about Bird’s connection until Tuesday, when he was in court for first-degree murder.

When contacted about why that information wasn’t released until now, RCMP communications said “the investigation was active and ongoing” when Bird was first arrested.

Another man – 27-year-old Braidy Chase Vermette – was arrested for killing Napope earlier this week.

Napope was last seen in late May of last year, and the car he’d been driving was soon found torched.

Bird had previously been charged with arson and forcible confinement. Now, the prosecutor is withdrawing those charges and focusing on the greater allegation of first-degree murder.

He’s back in court on Thursday, while Vermette has three weeks until his case comes up again.

Neither of the two men have mentioned plans to seek bail.

The RCMP says Bird and Vermette are their only suspects in the Napope case, and that they both knew Napope.