The B.C. Coroners Service has confirmed the identity of the human remains found in the Esler area near Williams Lake in August.
The remains belong to Dennis Russell Meleta, said the BC Coroners Service today (Friday).
Meleta was about 36 years old at the time of his death, which is believed to be about 10 years prior to discovery.
On Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011 a mountain biker found the human remains about two kilometres north of the Esler area, while exploring the possibility of building trails.
“That’s often how people are found. This is one of those cases where someone went off the beaten track and discovered a body,” says coroner Stephen Fonseca of the BC Coroners Service.
Following an RCMP examination of the scene, police said the “severely decomposed human remains” were found in a heavily wooded area, and that it was possible the deceased may have been at the location for a number of years.
The investigation was then taken on by the BC Coroners Service to investigate the identity of the remains.
The B.C. Coroners Service says confirming the man’s identity follows an exhaustive post-mortem investigation and with assistance from the Williams Lake RCMP Detachment, Vancouver Police Department Forensic Identification Section, the B.C. Police Missing Persons Centre and the Ontario Provincial Police Missing Persons/Unidentified Bodies Unit.
Identification was determined through advanced fingerprint techniques.
Thorough scene investigation and a post-mortem examination ruled out foul play in Meleta’s death.
“He’d been in British Columbia for quite a few years, but we lose track of him coming into around the year 2000, so we’re not sure how long he was in Williams Lake for. That’s what we’re trying to understand,” says Fonseca.
Meleta’s family has been notified of the confirmed identification, but to further a humanitarian effort, investigators wish to learn more about Meleta’s activities preceding his death and how people may have known him.
“Hopefully that will allow us to get a better interval on how long he’s likely been deceased for. We have some initial ideas, but hopefully someone will come forward and provide some verifiable evidence that they were with him on a particular day or even in a particular year,” Fonseca points out, adding it would be good to learn why Meleta was in Williams Lake.
Had he met someone from Williams Lake whom he was visiting, or had moved there to work, are some of the questions being asked.
It was a complex case, admits Fonseca.
“We know a fair amount about him, but there’s this gap between around 2000 and when he was found in 2011.”
Anyone who had previous interaction with Meleta is asked to contact the BC Coroners Service at 604-660-5077.
