DUNCAN, B.C. -- A 32-year-old Duncan man was remanded in custody in the death of 15-year-old Lisa Clausen, whose body was found in a remote area on the outskirts of the Vancouver Island community.
RCMP said in a prepared statement Paul Richard Kocurek was charged Tuesday with first degree murder in the case. He was remanded in custody to appear in court Thursday before Judge Lance Herd.
Duncan is about 50 kilometers north of Victoria.
The teen-ager's death brought to nine the number of children who have been killed or disappeared mysteriously in southwestern British Columbia in the last four months.
The bodies of two other youths have been found, and police were still looking for six other children reported missing.
Clausen was reported missing Sunday after she disappeared while jogging. More than 100 volunteers launched a search for the girl and her body was found on nearby Mount Prevost late Monday. A suspect was picked up hours later.
Police would not say how she was killed.
RCMP said before the Duncan incident that they were investigating the possibility the other eight cases were connected, but said the only present link between them is that all were victims of 'criminal acts.'
RCMP Supt. Bruce Northrop of Vancouver said last week that 'in all probability all the children in question were picked up by someone.' RCMP headquarters in Vancouver has gathered the facts of the cases although separate investigations were continuing.
RCMP officials were unavailable for comment late Tuesday on the Duncan murder.
New Westminster, B.C. RCMP Tuesday continued their search for 17-year-old Louise Chartrand, of nearby Maple Ridge. Chartrand disappeared July 30 after leaving her home to hitch-hike to her waitressing job on the other side of town.
Police said several articles of 'female clothing' had been found in her hometown and at Whistler, about 80 kilometers north of Vancouver.
'The investigation is continuing in an attempt to establish if it is the clothes of the missing person,' said a spokesman.
Found slain were Judy Kozma, 14, of New Westminster, reported missing July 9 and found last weekend near Agassiz, B.C. and Daryn Todd Johnsrude, 16, of Saskatoon, found dead of a fractured skull May 2 near Mission, B.C.
Missing were: Ms. Chartrand; Raymond King Jr., 15, of New Westminster; Simon Partington, 9, of Surrey, B.C.; Ada Court, 13, of Burnaby, B.C.; Sandra Wolfsteiner, 16, of Langley, B.C.; and Verna Bjerky, 17, of Yale, B.C.
