Regina police confirm human remains found in December were man who went missing in 1997
Patrick Thauberger's brother is charged with 1st-degree murder
Regina Police have confirmed that human remains found in rural Saskatchewan last December are those of Patrick Thauberger, who went missing from Regina more than 23 years ago.
Thauberger was 53 when he went missing in September 1997.
His remains were recovered in rural Saskatchewan on Dec. 3, 2020.
Police arrested Patrick's brother Joseph Thauberger, who is now 78, on Nov. 30, 2020, after a break in the cold case.
Joseph is charged with first-degree murder in Patrick's death. He is also charged with uttering threats to a woman between 1997 and 2014.
According to the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police missing persons database, Patrick was last seen at the bus depot in Regina.
The database says Patrick was travelling by bus from Winnipeg to Edmonton when he stopped in Regina to visit relatives. He never arrived in Edmonton.
In 2016, as part of the cold case investigation, police obtained a search warrant for land in a rural area near Indian Head, Sask., east of Regina. Police uncovered a large marijuana grow operation and charged Joseph Thauberger in what was described as "a large outdoor marijuana grow operation with over 300 plants."