Four people are in custody in connection with the January 2012 murder of Fribjon Bjornson whose remains were found in an abandoned home on the Nak'azdli reserve adjacent to Fort St. James, North District RCMP said Monday.
Wesley Dennis Duncan, 27, has been charged with second-degree murder, Jesse Darren Bird, 31, has been charged with accessory after the fact to murder and interference with a dead body, James David Charlie, 23, has been charged with indignity to human remains and Teresa Marie Charlie, 21, has been charged with accessory after the fact to murder.
All four are currently in custody in Prince George.
The 28-year-old self-employed log processor and father of two was reported missing on Jan. 21, 2012 and his truck was found near an abandoned property on the Nak'azdli reserve near Fort St. James on Jan. 23, 2012.
Although he was reportedly last seen on Jan. 12, when video footage showed him at a 7-Eleven in Vanderhoof, his hometown the date of the incident is listed as Jan. 10, 2012 on court documents.
On Feb. 3, 2012 investigators from the RCMP North District major crimes unit confirmed human remains found on the property on Lower Road were identified as belonging to Bjornson.
Police have said Bjornson was known to be involved in drug use and associated with people living high-risk lifestyles.
In the time since Bjornson was identified as a murder victim and in the aftermath his family, the Nak'azdli band and the police have put out calls for information that could lead to arrests.
The investigation remains ongoing and more arrests could be made, RCMP said.
"Our major crime investigators have been working extremely hard over the past year in order to identify and charge those responsible for this horrific crime," North District Cst. Lesley Smith said.
"They have been working closely with the Bjornson family and though these arrests cannot bring Fribjon back, it can give some much needed closure to end the nightmare they have been living."
Bjornson's mother, Eileen, declined to comment when reached Monday.
Nak'azdli chief Fred Sam said the arrests have delivered a sense of relief to the community.
"A lot of the people I've talked to have said it's great news that they finally have (some arrests)," Sam said.
"You don't have to be afraid to walk around because these people are still wandering around in the community."
In a November 2012 broadcast, CBS's 28 Hours claimed a connection between Bjornson's death and the May 2011 disappearance of fellow Vanderhoof resident Madison Scott.
The 20-year-old woman was last seen camping at Hogsback Lake, near the community of 4,113 people 100 km west of Prince George, where she had been partying with friends.
The allegation did not sit well with the Scott family.
"We want to clarify that he was not responsible for her disappearance or involved in a relationship with Maddy when she went missing," the family said at the time in a posting on www.madisonscott.ca. "There is no connection between the two cases."
No arrests have yet been made in the Scott disappearance. The allegations against the four arrested in relation to the Bjornson death are still to be proven in court.
