RCMP say they have contacted the families of Ashley Morin and Tiki Brook-Lyn Laverdiere in relation to the discovery of human remains in a rural area near North Battleford.

Officers from North Battleford and the RCMP Major Crimes Unit were carrying out a ground search in the area on Thursday as part of an investigation when a police dog found the remains, RCMP said in a news release.

A forensic autopsy is scheduled for next week to identify the remains.

Morin was last seen July 10, 2018 in North Battleford. Laverdiere was last seen in the city May 1, 2019. Both disappearances are now considered homicides.

Those two cases are the only two missing persons investigations in the area, RCMP say.