Nicole Bell was reported missing in September of 2017 and here remains were discovered and identified in May of 2025 (photo from Facebook)

By Liam Verster

Human Remains Identified

Remains of woman missing for eight years found on rural Salmon Arm property

Jun 18, 2025 | 10:38 AM

Officials have confirmed that the human remains discovered on a rural property in the Salmon Arm area belonged to a woman who was missing for nearly a decade.

Salmon Arm RCMP received a report about the human remains on May 5 and conducted an expansive targeted search of the property.

On May 21, the B.C. Coroner’s Service identified the remains as those of Nicole Crystal Bell, who was reported missing from Sicamous on Sept. 7, 2017.

The Southeast District Major Crime Unit (SED MCU) took over the investigation into Bell’s disappearance on Sept. 26, 2017, and determined her disappearance was the result of foul play.

Bell was one of five women who went missing in the North Okanagan within a short period of time.

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“Although it has been established that the disappearance of all five women were not associated to a single serial actor, investigators believe that the primary suspect responsible for Bell’s death is the same as that of Traci Genereaux,” Supt. Sanjaya Wijayakoon, the Operations Officer for the B.C. RCMP Major Crimes program, stated.

Genereaux was 18 years old when she was reported missing in June 2017, and her body was located after police executed a search warrant at a Salmon Arm area property belonging to the Sagmoen family that October.

The primary suspect in that case, Curtis Sagmoen, is now deceased, and the SED MCU said there was not believed to be an ongoing threat to public safety.

However, additional parties to the offence have not been ruled out in Bell’s and Genereaux’s disappearances and murders, and both cases remain under investigation.

Anyone with information relating to these disappearances and deaths were asked to call the SED MCU information line at 1-877-987-8477.