Saskatoon police locate human remains on first day of search for missing woman

ST. LOUIS, SASK. -

Saskatoon police may have located the remains of a Saskatoon woman who has been missing since September 2020.

According to police, human remains were recovered around 2:30 p.m. Thursday near St. Louis, Sask. during the first day of the search for Megan Gallagher.

The remains were found by a search team on the South Saskatchewan River, Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) said in a news release.

The intensive search of the area was expected to last up to four days. The search included civilian search and rescue personnel and specially-trained police dog teams from Calgary.

The SPS forensic identification unit will be processing the scene, and will perform testing to determine the person's idenity.

Eight people are accused in connection with Gallagher's death, with charges ranging from first-degree murder to unlawful confinement and offering an indignity to human remains.

Police first began investigating her disappearance as a homicide in January 2021.

During a news conference Thursday morning, SPS Staff Sgt. Grant Obst said there were "two large specific areas of the river" that the search crews planned to focus on.

“The working theory in the investigation has indicated that the murder occurred in Saskatoon, the disposal of the body occurred in the area that we're going to be searching," Obst said.

Gallagher’s family planned to be on site for the duration of the search and said they’re grateful for the efforts of so many.

“In whatever form it has to be, if Megan can come home, that's an important piece,” Megan's dad Brian told CTV News before the announcement of the discovery.

"If it is true that she was dropped off the bridge or disposed of in the river here, she's with her ancestors. That's the only solace that I can get," he said.

Obst says the investigation has led police to believe gang activity was a factor, but called Gallagher’s involvement in the gang world “questionable."

Gallagher’s family says Megan knew people in gangs, but was not in a gang.

“The people charged are gang related. Megan is not gang affiliated,” Brian Gallagher said.

The discovery of the human remains came the same day as police announced an eighth person was accused in Gallagher's death.

Robin Tyler John, 34, was arrested on Thursday at a correctional facility on the Beardy’s and Okemasis’ Cree Nation, according to police.

He had been serving a sentence unrelated to the homicide, SPS said.