RCMP investigating deaths of Ryan Daley and Dan Archbald as homicides

WATCH: Human remains found near Ucluelet earlier this month have now been confirmed as being those of Dan Archbald and Ryan Daley. The men were frist reported missing last month and police say their deaths are being investigated as homicides. Mary Griffin has the lastest

Police confirmed Friday morning the remains of two bodies found near Ucluelet earlier this month have been identified as two missing sailors.

Investigators are now treating the case as a homicide and not a random incident.

Family confirmed with CHEK News Thursday Ryan Daley and Dan Archbald had been identified by authorities. Their bodies were discovered last week by a woman walking her dog.

Daley and Archbald were reported missing to Ucluelet RCMP in mid-May after they failed to contact family and friends following an eight-week sailing trip in Panama.

The pair was last seen on surveillance video on May 16 at the Ucluelet boat dock.

Police said they had been on Archbald’s sailboat, the Astral Blue, that docked in Ucluelet on May 13. Cpl. Tammy Douglas, Island District RCMP spokeswoman, said the boat was searched in Ucluelet and nothing untoward was found.

“Identifying Mr. Daley and Mr. Archbald is a significant step in this investigation. We can now focus our attention on answering the who, what, when, where and why, in an effort to determine who is responsible for their deaths,” Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit Inspector Dave Hall said in a release.

RCMP said there has been significant public interest in missing person cases on Vancouver Island since May, in particular, this homicide investigation and the missing person case of 41-year-old Ben Kilmer.

Kilmer was reported missing on the same day as Daley and Archbald and investigators say there is no evidence to show the two cases are connected at this time.

Hall said active investigations are ongoing in both cases and cautions about the widespread use of social media and the internet as a source of information that risk drawing a link that does not exist or spreading false information that can disrupt the police investigation.

RCMP said details of both investigations will be shared when they are able to and is asking the privacy of the victim’s families is respected.

“We believe the public knows something so again it’s really important, even if it seems insignificant if there’s somebody out there who has any information about what happened that they can call the VIIMCU information line or they can remain anonymous and put their tip through Crime Stoppers,” Cpl. Tammy Douglas, Island District RCMP spokeswoman, said.

Douglas said an example would be if someone saw the two get into a vehicle.

“Sometimes it just takes a very small piece of the puzzle to help put the puzzle together.”

VIIMCU can be reached at 250-380-6211 and Crime Stoppers can be contacted at 1-800-222-8477.

Ryan Daley (left) and Dan Archbald (right). (Photo Credit: RCMP).

Editorial Policies Report an Error