A B.C. man who went missing after a fire in Prince George three years ago is facing allegations of sexual assault against two underage relatives in Alberta decades ago.
The allegations against 57-year-old Vernon Martin date back to the 1970s and 80s, when the missing man was living near the small town of Vermilion, east of Edmonton.
Martin disappeared on Dec. 19, 2009 when flames destroyed a Northern Thunderbird Air hangar that he and his family owned. He was working in the building at the time and his truck was found parked nearby, but a search by a forensic anthropologist four months later revealed that he was not killed in the blaze.
Prince George Mounties have been searching for Martin ever since.
It wasn't until almost a year later that their Alberta colleagues joined the hunt. Sometime in 2010, Martin's alleged victims approached police, claiming they were molested as youths, Cpl. Gordon Yetman of the Vermilion detachment told ctvbc.ca.
The two alleged victims both have "familial connections" with Martin, according to Yetman.
Two charges each of indecent assault and gross indecency were laid in November of that year. There are now warrants out for Martin's arrest in Alberta and Vermilion investigators are speaking with police in Prince George about the case.
Anyone with information about Martin's whereabouts is asked to call police.
