The man facing firearms charges in the B.C. Interior was raised in Maple Ridge, and owned a condominium here until recent years.
Curtis Wayne Sagmoen, 36, has been arrested in connection to an incident where he allegedly pointed a firearm at a sex trade worker.
A missing teen’s remains have been found at a property near Salmon Arm owned by his parents.
The remains were identified on Friday as being 18-year-old Traci Genereaux of Vernon, who had been reported missing on June 9.
The property is owned by Wayne and Evelyn Sagmoen, and their son Curtis had been living in a travel trailer on the site, when he was not working in Northern Alberta or B.C.
Police have begun an extensive search of the property, using a backhoe to dig on the 25-acre property.
Sagmoen has not been charged in connection with the discovery of the body.
He is being held in custody and charged with the following: disguising face with the intent to commit offence, intentionally discharging a firearm while reckless, uttering threats, careless use or storage of a firearm, possessing a weapon for dangerous purpose and possession of controlled substance.
Those relate to an incident in nearby Falkland on Aug. 27, and he appeared in court in Falkland on Oct. 17.
Police say a meeting had been set up via an online website used by sex workers, and when the victim arrived a male suspect produced a firearm and threatened her. The victim was able to flee unharmed.
Sagmoen was born in 1980, raised in Maple Ridge with two brothers and worked as a pile driver. His parents moved to Salmon Arm in 2004. They were well known for their work in cutting horse competitions.
According to foreclosure documents, Sagmoen owned a townhouse in Kanaka Creek Estates on Gilker Hill, until a bank foreclosure in 2013.
A neighbour near Salmon Arm described Curtis as “a bit rough,” skinny with light brown hair, blue eyes and approximately 5-foot-seven in height.
“He had no teeth, and he was not always the best-kept guy, dirty clothes and kind of messy. But he was always polite and sweet, smiling and would always say hello.”
On Oct. 26, protestors gathered at the courthouse in Vernon to remember missing and murdered indigenous women, on the same day that Sagmoen was appearing.
With police continuing to search the property, there is rampant speculation about whether the remains of other women who have gone missing from the area will be found. People are also working to put together the final days of Generaux‘s life.
Sagmoen next appears in court on Nov. 23.
