Cold case solved: DNA breakthrough helps Edmonton police identify man whose body was found in 1997

It took almost 30 years, but the remains of a male found around the North Saskatchewan River outside Lloydminster in 1997 have now been identified thanks to advances in DNA testing.

In November 1990, a 36-year-old man went missing. When the remains were found in 1997, the Saskatchewan Coroner determined the death was not suspicious. DNA testing at the time was unable to identify the body. The DNA was retained by the National DNA Data Bank of Canada (NDDB).

The file remained with the Saskatchewan RCMP Historical Case Unit. Officials said investigators revisited the file using new DNA sequencing technologies in 2005 and then again in 2024.

Cst. Brendan Sanford, Saskatchewan RCMP’s Missing Person Coordinator said, “Our team worked with the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains and the National Missing Persons DNA Program, and the file was ultimately linked to a missing person investigation out of Edmonton.”

The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) Historical Crimes Section detectives continued to review unsolved historical missing persons files, they obtained voluntary DNA samples from living relatives of Jose Valdez, a man who went missing in Edmonton in late 1990.

In February 2025, DNA obtained from Valdez’s family members matched the DNA from the remains that were found in Saskatchewan in 1997, conclusively identifying the remains as those of Jose Valdez.

Jose Valdez was 36-year-old at the time of his disappearance and was last seen in Edmonton in November 1990.

“We sympathize with Jose’s family for the decades of ambiguous loss they have suffered, and while this is difficult news, we hope it also brings some measure of resolution,” says Detective Glen Haneman, with the EPS Historical Crimes Section. “This is why we never stop investigating unsolved missing persons and unidentified human remains cases.”

“Technology is transforming the way investigations are being approached and solved,” added Cst. Sanford. “It helps to uncover leads in ways that were not possible when the case first opened. Being able to bring closure to Jose’s loved ones is extremely rewarding and gives us hope that we can provide answers to other waiting families.”

The EPS Missing Persons Unit currently has 95 unsolved missing persons files dating back as far as the 1970s.