Police say they have found evidence suggesting Stewart McLean, a 45-year-old Lions Bay resident who vanished in mid-May, was the victim of a homicide. The update on Thursday turned a missing-person search into a homicide investigation and sharpened the focus on what happened after he was last seen on May 15.
McLean was reported missing to Squamish RCMP on May 18, three days after he was last seen in Lions Bay. On Tuesday, Mounties appealed to the public for information and said they were worried about his health and well-being. By Wednesday, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team had taken over the case, and a day later investigators said the evidence pointed to foul play.
The case began as a straightforward effort to locate a missing man in a small coastal community north of Vancouver. That changed as investigators followed the trail of evidence and shifted from searching for McLean to treating his disappearance as a suspected killing. His IMDB profile identifies him as an actor and producer, with credits that include Beyond, Travelers, Virgin River and Murder in a Small Town.
What police have not said publicly is what evidence led them to that conclusion or where McLean was found, if he has been found at all. For now, the clearest fact is that the search for a missing Lions Bay resident has become a homicide probe, and the next step rests with investigators and anyone who may have seen him in the days before he disappeared.
