Project E-Pana is a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) task force created in 2005 with the purpose of solving cases of missing and murdered persons, all female, along a section of Highway 16 between Prince Rupert, British Columbia and Prince George, British Columbia, dubbed the Highway of Tears.
[25] Bobby Jack Fowler is believed through DNA evidence to have been responsible for the murder of Colleen MacMillen, but died in prison before charges could be laid.
In December 2014, a serial rapist named Garry Taylor Handlen was charged with the murders of Monica Jack and 11-year-old Kathryn-Mary Herbert.
According to CBC, the RCMP said that the December 2014 arrest was attributed in part to advances in forensic science, but the specific details were not released.
The Crown prosecution's case was based largely upon Handlen's confession which was extracted as part of a Mr. Big sting operation.
[32] In 2013, Craig Callens, the RCMP Deputy Commissioner, warned that further budget reductions from the provincial government would greatly affect investigations.