Southend. Photo courtesy of peterballantyne.ca
Looking for clues in one historical case has led Southend RCMP to find new leads in a historical case that goes back 35 years.
In May, RCMP were investigating the discovery of old human remains that were found near the White Sand dam on the Reindeer River. As part of the investigation, Sergeant Donny Caisse interviewed Southend residents to find out if there were any long-term missing persons. It was then he learned about 26-year-old Simeon Bear.
“And what had happened was that Simeon Bear went missing on July 23rd, 1982 while travelling to work as a guide,” Caisse said.
“He departed as a storm was moving into Southend and he did not arrive at his destination. His disappearance was never reported to the RCMP so we had to gather information from what people remembered.”
The human remains found were not that of Simeon Bear, however the new investigation led to the discovery of what remained of Bear’s boat. RCMP are still investigating and the file has also been turned over to the province’s missing persons coordinator.
Meanwhile, Bear’s family will hold a memorial service in his honor on July 29 in Southend. In an earlier interview with MBC News, Simeon’s brother Leonard Bear said there were a number of missed opportunities to find new leads in the case.
He said 20 years ago, the remains of the sunken boat were spotted from the air by someone in a helicopter, but the sighting was never reported. Leonard says it was just a few weeks ago that he positively identified a piece of the boat as belonging to his brother and provided the new information to RCMP.