After nearly eight years of agonizing silence, the family of missing mother Nicole Bell finally has an answer — but it’s not the one they prayed for.

In a haunting development, the remains of the 31-year-old woman, who vanished from Sicamous, BC in September 2017, have been discovered in a rural area outside Salmon Arm. The location, remote and wooded, is eerily close to where another missing woman’s body, Traci Genereaux, was found back in 2017 — linking the two cases with unsettling familiarity.

A Discovery That Opens Old Wounds

It was on May 5, 2025, that the RCMP received a tip about human remains in the outskirts of Salmon Arm. An expansive ground search was immediately launched. By March 21, the BC Coroners Service confirmed the remains belonged to Nicole Bell.

Her disappearance had long been the subject of public interest and heartbreak. A mother of three, Nicole was last seen on September 2, 2017, and officially reported missing five days later. Her vanishing was one of five similar cases in the North Okanagan region during a short span, prompting fear, speculation, and a massive multi-agency investigation.

Was There a Pattern?

While authorities have stopped short of naming a single serial offender, many now believe the cases may not have been isolated.

“Although it has been established that the five missing women’s cases are not linked to a single serial actor, we believe the primary suspect in Nicole Bell’s death is the same individual connected to Traci Genereaux’s case,” said Supt. Sanjaya Wijayakoon of the BC RCMP Major Crimes Unit.

That suspected individual, Curtis Sagmoen, had been publicly linked to Genereaux’s disappearance and was listed as a person of interest in Bell’s case by her own family. Sagmoen was found dead earlier this year at a Vernon motel — never charged in either woman’s death, but persistently surrounded by suspicion.

Lingering Questions and a Broken Community

With the prime suspect now deceased, investigators face the difficult task of determining whether others may have been involved. Mounties have confirmed that additional parties have not been ruled out, and that the investigation remains active.

“There is no ongoing threat to public safety,” officials emphasized, though many in the community remain unconvinced.

The haunting proximity of the two discovery sites — and the fact that both women were last seen months apart in the same region — has reignited anxiety, anger, and a cry for justice in North Okanagan.

A Family’s Pain, A Community’s Demand for Closure

Nicole Bell’s family has fought for years to keep her story alive. Despite the grief of this discovery, they are now hoping it can push the investigation toward accountability — and possibly uncover the truth behind the pattern of missing women that has haunted this part of British Columbia for nearly a decade.

RCMP urge anyone with information, no matter how small, to contact their Major Crimes line at 1-877-987-8477.

“We owe it to Nicole. We owe it to Traci. And we owe it to every woman who’s gone missing without answers.”