Body found in 2006 off Shell Road turned out to be murdered wife

Gurpreet Gill went missing in 2006. Police have now charged her husband in her murder.

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For years, police investigators were stumped in their efforts to identify the body of a woman whose remains were found in 2006 in a heavily wooded area off Shell Road, near Alderbridge Way.

At the time of the body's discovery, in early June of 2006, relatives had not yet reported the woman missing, and so for more than five years, the case went unsolved, Cpl. Adam MacIntosh of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said.

But thanks to some great sleuthing by Vancouver Police, and some DNA sent from India, some measure of closure was finally given to the woman's family.

On Saturday, Vancouver Police arrested Vancouver's Jaswant Singh Gill, 40, and charged him with the second-degree murder of his wife, Gurpreet Gill, 33.

"It was a mystery that caused great sorry to family members here and in India, and posed a major challenge for our investigators," Vancouver Police Sgt. Kevin McLaren said. "Even though initially there were very few clues, our investigators never gave up. They believed they owed it to the family and the victim to stay on the case until it was solved."

Gurpreet Gill's family reported her missing to Vancouver Police in 2006, and as the investigation proceeded, McLaren said it "became clear she had likely met with foul play."

"For years, investigators looked for the evidence that would link a suspect to the murder. Recently, they found what they needed," McLaren said.

Gurpreet Gill's body was found in a thickly wooded area off Shell Road that's popular among blackberry pickers and near the road's gravel shoulder where truckers pull their rigs for a rest.

Jaswant Gill remains in custody, and is next scheduled to appear in Vancouver provincial court on Feb. 25 at 9:30 a.m