(file photo)

By Susan McNeil

Crime

Physical search for Megan Gallagher to start near St. Louis

Sep 28, 2022 | 10:05 AM

Saskatoon Police announced this morning that a seventh person has been charged in Megan Gallagher’s death and that they will start a search of the South Saskatchewan River near St. Louis.

Thomas Richard Sutherland, 42, was arrested in Saskatoon on Tuesday and charged with the unlawful confinement and aggravated assault of Gallagher.

Police also say they will start searching for Gallagher’s remains on Thursday using a number of civilian search and rescue people, K9 teams from the Calgary Police, and the help of Dr. Ernie Walker, a Forensic Anthropologist.

Multiple government agencies are involved, including the Water Security Agency, the SPS Mayor Crimes Section, and Provincial Protective Services.

The search will run for four days and only go during the daytime hours and the public is being asked to stay away from the area as it is a potential crime scene.

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Sutherland may be the seventh arrest, but police say they anticipate additional arrests.

Two people have been charged with Gallagher’s murder in the last week, following about two years of limited change in the investigation.

Four people, including one person arrested in James Smith Cree Nation, have been charged with committing an indignity to human remains.

John Wayne Sanderson was arrested in James Smith in July, Jessica Sutherland was arrested near Onion Lake in June, and Roderick Sutherland was arrested in June near Prince Albert.

Ernest Whitehead, the first to be arrested, was detained by police at the end of May.

Cheyann Peeteetuce, 29, appeared in Saskatoon court yesterday for the first time on her murder charge. She had previously been incarcerated.

Robert James Thomas, 27, was arrested in Prince George BC last week and also charged with first-degree murder.

Gallagher’s family ties are to Cumberland House Cree Nation.

She was last seen alive in September 2020 at a gas station in Saskatoon. Police have been investigating her disappearance as a homicide starting several months after her disappearance.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com