The forensic search for a missing and presumed dead Edmonton teen has now moved outside the city, where investigators are scouring a wooded area to the west in Yellowhead County.
Samuel Bird, 14, went missing on June 1 in Edmonton. Police believe he was murdered. Investigators and volunteers have spent the last four months searching for any sign of the Indigenous teenager.
While much of the massive volunteer effort was spent scouring Edmonton, in particular the river valley, last week police said his body may have been taken as far as 150 kilometres west of the city and hidden.
It was a large area of thousands of square kilometres, stretching from Edmonton to Edson in the west, and as far south as Drayton Valley.
Edmonton police homicide detectives have released a map of the area where they believe Samuel Bird’s remains were dumped and are asking members of the public, who frequent the area, to keep an eye out for his remains.
Edmonton Police Service
Since that announcement, police said they have received additional information leading investigators to focus their search in the Carrot Creek area in the Yellowhead Highway corridor, approximately 160 km west of Edmonton.
It’s an area made up of some farm land and mixed agriculture, but also thick, dense forest.
For months, a massive group of friends, family and dozens of volunteers have been searching for the missing boy. EPS homicide Det. Jared Buhler, who is leading the case, said he’s never seen anything like it.
“The search effort that was undertaken by Sam’s family is unprecedented. It’s been massive.
“They’ve been searching for the needle in a haystack and you can only stand back in awe and respect what they’ve done.”
Buhler said police, unfortunately, can’t undertake a search of that scale without more specifics — and for now, enough information has come in that allows police to search near Carrot Creek.
Buhler said every homicide investigation is unique and it can take time for all the facts to fall into place.
“It’s like doing a puzzle. Sometimes you don’t know the piece you’re looking for until other pieces fall into place around it … and that’s what’s unfolded this week.”
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Buhler couldn’t go into detail but said “compelling information” came together over the past five days that helped police see a bigger picture and it significantly narrowed down the area they are searching.
“It was compelling enough to immediately send our canine to this location from the other location, and this is worth our best shot now,” he said, explaining police on Wednesday had been searching further down the road when the latest tip prompted investigators to pack up and move to Carrot Creek.
Edmonton Police Service homicide unit Det. Jared Buhler speaks to reporters about investigators searching for the remains of missing teenager Samuel Bird in the rural Carrot Creek area, west of the city in Yellowhead County, on Oct. 9, 2025.
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“It remains our belief that Samuel will be located in close proximity to an area accessible to vehicles,” Buhler said at a news conference near the new scene on Thursday afternoon.
“We believe Samuel will located on land and tend to believe this will be in a wooded area offering concealment to the offender or offenders.
“We believe efforts were made to conceal Samuel’s body from discovery, but that little time was available to the offender or offenders to do so.”
The EPS missing person unit is leading the search with the help of cadaver dogs, drones and other search and rescue organizations on the ground.
“We believe we’re looking for remains at this point, so that really requires a close-up and experienced searchers who are trained in detection of human remains.”
Buhler added offender behaviour research has found suspects hiding a body will often look for a secluded place that is still accessible in darkness, typically within 50 to 100 feet of a road or trail where the remains can be covered by debris.
There are few exits from the highway in that area, Buhler said, and police don’t believe the offenders went far off the road before ditching the teen’s body.
“We urge all landowners and users within this corridor and the surrounding areas in the time that remains before winter to search your properties and any adjacent areas of interest.”
Police have conducted a few searches out west so far. Buhler said members of the Paul Band First Nation have also been been searching.
As winter creeps closer, police said time is of the essence to find Bird’s remains.
“There’s no guarantees, but right now this is the best we’ve got. We’re working with the best information we’ve had to date and time is limited.”
Bird went missing on June 1, after leaving his home to visit a friend in the Canora neighbourhood of west Edmonton.
He was seen on surveillance video at approximately 8:30 p.m., walking through the grounds of Holy Cross School near 151 Street and 104 Avenue, after which he went to a friend’s house near 150 Street and 106 Avenue.
A home in west Edmonton was searched on Sept. 18, 2025, as police continue to investigate the disappearance of Edmonton teen Samuel Bird.
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That duplex in the west end was was raided by police in September, and at the beginning of this month the home was torched in what police say was a highly suspicious fire.
There are suspects in the case, Buhler said on Thursday, but no arrests have been made.
Buhler said this case has generated a massive amount of information and tips, which has taken time to investigate.
“There’s been a narrative that we’ve done nothing. That’s far from the truth,” Buhler said.
“We’ve accumulated a lot of information and data along the way — and sometimes you need the right piece of information to know where to look within the information you’ve already collected. That’s part of what’s brought us here.”
EPS crews will be working in the Carrot Creek area over the next week and the public is asked to avoid the search area so investigators can do their work and collect evidence without it being disturbed.
“No offence to the people who have been out there beating the bush up to this point, but we want to take the first crack at this with the pros so that we can take all the necessary forensic precautions.”
“We don’t want a hundred people traipsing through the bush right now. We want as pristine a search area as we can and as we move through that and eliminate areas, then I’m all for a second set of eyes.”
If Bird’s body has been out in the elements this entire time, Buhler said what is left may be hard to spot.
“We’re looking for potentially very small items — unfortunately, it may be bones at this point, given the time that’s passed. It’s been four months through the summer. Unfortunately, that’s just the science of it.”
There’s no guarantee police will find Bird’s remains, Buhler cautioned, but said his team has not lost hope.
“We’re committed to working together to bring this home — whether it’s today, tomorrow, this week or next spring.
“This is not going away. We will investigate this to the end. The people responsible for this will be held accountable.”
Edmonton police said Wednesday that the disapperance of 14-year-old Samuel Bird has now been deemed a homicide.
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Anyone with information about Samuel Bird or the suspicious fire in Canora is asked to contact the EPS at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone.
Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online.
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