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An unknown adult male was found dead on December 19th, 2010.

Dino Richard Kaz, 42, and Brent Abbott, 36, were initially reported missing.

Kaz was later found dead near Evansburg, Alberta.

Case status is open and active.

Strathcona County RCMP continue to have a mystery on their hands.

What started as one dead body and two missing men soon became two dead bodies with one man remaining missing.

On December 19th, 2010, at about 3:40 a.m., Strathcona County Emergency Services and the RCMP dealt with a Quonset fire south of Township Road 524 at Range Road 213 in eastern Strathcona County.

After the fire was out, investigators found the body of an adult in the smoldering remains.

Unable to determine age or gender at the scene, the body was transported to the Alberta Medical Examiner's Office. An autopsy was conducted on December 24th.

For the moment, police were treating the death as suspicious.

On December 28th, Strathcona County RCMP revealed that the body found in the Quonset was that of an unknown adult male.

Cause of death was withheld, leaving speculation open that the victim may not have died as the result of the fire.

As part of their investigation, RCMP wanted to talk with two men associated with the property. Trouble was, they couldn't be found ... and police asked for the public's help in locating them.

Edmonton resident Dino Richard Kaz, 42, was last seen on December 18th, in the Edmonton area.

Kaz was believed to have frequented the rural property.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan resident Brent Abbott, 36, was also reported missing.

Abbott was last seen in the Edmonton area on December 17th, during the evening hours.

RCMP said Kaz and Abbott were known to associate with each other and with the owner of the property.

Police also issued images of a green 2000 Ford F-150 pick-up truck with a regular cab and a long box they wanted people to keep an eye out for.

Note: RCMP did not identify the location of where these images came from.
The blurring of the right-front tire and headlight suggests the images came from
Google's street view feature which obscures portions of images
interpretated by software as representing human faces.

The truck, which has front-end damage on the passenger side, was registered to Kaz. However, the Saskatchewan licence plate it bears – 207 HTR – was registered to Abbott.

Police didn't identify either of the men as suspects. Instead, they were said to be merely persons of interest that were missing in connection with an investigation.

At a media availability, Strathcona County RCMP Cst. Wally Henry added detail to the story – read more »

In a follow-up report, Henry said identification of the found body could take weeks – read more »

Second man found dead

The story took an even more sinister turn when one of the missing men was found dead about 150 kilometres west of Edmonton.

It was revealed that on December 29th, Evansburg RCMP were contacted by a local landowner about a possible sighting of the green Ford F-150 pick-up associated with the investigation in Strathcona County.

Officers then located the vehicle on a rural range road approximately 40 kilometres west of Evansburg, near Nojack.

They also found the remains of Dino Kaz inside the truck.

"It's not being ruled a homicide, it's being categorised as suspicious at this point just because of the whole nature of both incidents and with looking at them globally and what's involved," Strathcona County RCMP Cst. Wally Henry said.

"Right now, we are trying to backtrack to see what their activities were prior to Mr. Kaz being located, and then obviously prior to the fire.

"As far as how long the truck had been there, we don't know that yet."

Henry would not comment on the nature of Kaz's death. He also did not describe the scene but did say that the truck was not burned.

"The whole situation is suspicious," he said.

"When you look at the whole investigation – the big picture – there's suspicious components to it, and investigators are working on it to try and put those pieces together."

RCMP said they still had no leads in their search for Brent Abbott and they continued to be interested in receiving reports concerning the movements of the green Ford F-150 since mid-December.

Those with information about Kaz, Abbott, the truck or what may have taken place at the Quonset were asked to contact Strathcona County RCMP at 780-467-7741, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or online at www.tipsubmit.com. Tips can also be text messaged.

Strathcona County RCMP credited media for their coverage as they felt it was instrumental in locating the truck and one of the missing men.

No leads

On January 5th, 2011, a media follow-up report indicated that while police had received an unknown number of tips from the public, no new leads had been developed in their search for Brent Abbott.

"We've received tips on Mr. Abbot's whereabouts, but those haven't been confirmed," Strathcona County RCMP Cst. Wally Henry said.

"We're still trying to obtain more evidence and interview people, but really, there's nothing as far as a break in the case. That hasn't happened yet."

Henry described the investigation as challenging.

"It's not an easy investigation," he said. "It's complex with the different locations where the incidents took place, and then determining whether or not there was anything criminal that was involved in these incidents."

Henry also said the medical examiner had yet to rule a cause in Dino Kaz's death.

deadmonton 2010 - suspicious death in strathcona county