Arrest made in Colton Crowshoe homicide 8 years after his death

Calgary police have taken a man into custody with charges pending in relation to the 2014 killing of Colton Crowshoe, they said in a statement on Thursday.

Crowshoe, who was 18 when he died, went missing after leaving a house party in the northeast community of Abbeydale on July 4, 2014.

Three weeks later, his body was found in a water retention pond near Stoney Trail and 16th Avenue N.E. 

It's alleged that Crowshoe was killed and then his body was left in the water. 

An autopsy confirmed that his death was a homicide.

For eight years, the case remained unsolved.

Last month, on June 23, his family and homicide detectives held a news conference pleading with the public for answers.

Police said on Thursday that a man was taken into custody without incident. 

In an email statement to CBC News written on behalf of Crowshoe's family, his cousin Hayley Starlight thanked those involved with his investigation.

"For eight years, we have prayed, pleaded, and marched to honour Colton's life and to hope we will find answers as to why his life was taken from us."

His family said they will remember him for his humour, kindness and love for others.

"Losing Colton has been a devastation unfathomable beyond words. We have spent day after day wondering 'who?' and 'why?' and not having any answers to our burning questions was torture. Colton did not deserve to be taken so suddenly," wrote Starlight.

The family added in their statement that even though the development in Crowshoe's case is good news and has brought them closer for their need for justice, "this journey has only begun and the answers to come will open some old wounds we have tried to heal over the years."

The family has asked for privacy as they process what has happened. 

Police believe accused knew Crowshoe

In a statement, police said they believe the accused and Crowshoe knew each other and they left the house party together.

Investigators said they are still trying to determine a motive for the killing, but they are no longer looking for additional suspects.

"Our homicide detectives have been incredibly persistent throughout this investigation," said Staff Sgt. Sean Gregson.

"Homicide investigations require support from resources across the service, and for eight years our CPS investigators have worked together tirelessly to find answers for Colton's family."

Police thanked the public, saying it was information from people who came forward that helped make the arrest.

"Assistance from the public is vital in investigations like these," said Gregson.

"In this case, we are grateful that members of the public came forward and trusted our investigators with their information so that we could bring closure to Colton's family."

The identity of the accused is expected to be released once charges are laid.

ASIRT investigated police conduct

Police came under fire for how they handled the case in 2014, when the family begged authorities to treat Crowshoe's disappearance as a missing person case. However, that didn't happen for nearly three weeks.

At the time, the family accused police of not taking his disappearance seriously because he was a young Indigenous man who had had interactions with authorities in the past.

After a 32-month investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) into police conduct, no charges were laid. However, it was discovered there were several problems with the investigation and many mistakes were made.

ASIRT director Sue Hughson said the mistakes were not related to racism.