Highway of tears investigator suggests that a break in one of the cases may be at hand

The private investigator who has been looking into the Highway of Tears disappearances has claimed that he may be on the verge of a major break in his investigation.

Ray Michalko, the Vancouver-based private investigator says he has uncovered some information in the case of Nicole Hoar and plans on searching an area of bush west and south of Prince George in mid May.

He's in the process of looking for volunteers in the Prince George area to help him search the mostly two-square-kilometre area along Norman Lake Road, west of Prince George.

He provided details of his plans to the Sun media chain on Sunday.

Private eye makes break
Volunteers needed to search for Nicole Hoar's remains
By CARY CASTAGNA, Sun Media
Sunday, April 29, 2007

It could prove to be a massive break in the mysterious disappearance of a Red Deer woman on B.C.’s infamous Highway of Tears.

Ray Michalko, a Vancouver-based private investigator probing the baffling missing-persons case of Nicole Hoar, is turning his attention to an area of mostly bush just south of Highway 16 and west of Prince George.

“I’ve got three independent sources of information that are pointing to that direction,” Michalko, 59, told Sun Media Sunday.

Among the clues he will be looking for, Michalko hopes to find “clothing and human remains.”
The former Manitoba and North Vancouver RCMP officer said he will be focusing on a roughly two-square-kilometre area along Norman Lake Road, about 43 km west of Prince George.
But he can’t do it all himself.

Michalko is asking for volunteers interested in helping him search the out-of-the-way location.
“It’s far too big for me to consider doing it myself,” he said, adding he has already secured about half a dozen volunteers since scouting the area two weeks ago.

Michalko has also contacted the RCMP and Prince George Search and Rescue, but he isn’t expecting any help from those agencies.

While there are some residents living in cottages in the general area he plans to search, Michalko said there is next to no pedestrian traffic.

The search is slated to start at 9 a.m. local time on May 12.

Michalko is asking volunteers to meet him at the junction of Highway 16 and Norman Lake Road.

“Each volunteer should come equipped with drinking water, lunch, an object that can be used to prod the ground and greenery – such as a ski pole – and rain gear if necessary, as there is no shelter or other facilities available and the search will occur rain or shine,” he said.

Hoar’s parents couldn’t be reached for comment Sunday on the surprise development.

“This is a tough thing for the family involved,” Michalko said, admitting the search could come up empty.

“It’s a needle in a haystack. But just because of the information I’ve got, I’m compelled to look.”
Hoar was 25 years old when she vanished June 21, 2002, while hitchhiking on Highway 16 from Prince George to Smithers to visit her sister. She had been working in B.C. as a tree planter.

The highway, now known as the Highway of Tears, has been a Bermuda Triangle for hitchhikers.

Nine women have been murdered or have disappeared since 1990 from communities that dot the largely remote corridor that stretches almost 750 km from Prince George to Prince Rupert.

Hoar is the only non-native woman of the nine.