The RCMP in British Columbia are set to announce a major breakthrough in their investigation into missing and murdered women in the province.
Detectives who鈥檝e been working on 18 cases, including the Highway of Tears disappearances, will hold a news conference Tuesday to announce a 鈥渟ignificant development.鈥�
Sources tell CTV British Columbia that investigators have matched DNA found on at least one victim to a man who died in a U.S. prison in 2006.
CTV British Columbia reported the man was convicted of kidnapping and attempted rape in Lincoln County, Oregon, and sent to jail in 1996.
The RCMP have not confirmed that information.
A First Nations group that has been offering support to the families of Highway of Tears victims told CTV they鈥檝e learned that at least one of the cases has been solved.
Some of the murders investigated by B.C. police date back to the 1970s. Pamela Darlington was killed in Kamloops in 1973 and Monica Jack was murdered in Merrit five years later.
The Highway of Tears refers to a stretch of road between Prince Rupert and Prince George, where remains of some of the victims were discovered.
With a report from CTV British Columbia鈥檚 Lisa Rossington
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Fowler was convicted of murder in Oregon.
