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Tura McCarty was found dead in his vehicle in January, 2016. (Image Credit: RCMP)
By Vernon Matters Staff
RCMP breakthrough

Murder charges a decade after McCarty killing

Apr 20, 2026 | 3:19 PM

Two people have been charged with a local murder, over ten years after it happened.

In January, 2016, 22-year-old Tura Stephen McCarty was found dead in the driver’s seat of his 1999 Jeep Cherokee on a rural stretch of Bear Creek Road in West Kelowna.

The RCMP’s Southeast District Major Crime Unit confirmed 33-year-old Heather Dawn White of Kamloops, and 60-year-old Cal Douglas Little of Abbotsford were arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of McCarty. 

Investigators believe McCarty was targeted and that his murder was an isolated incident.

“The securing of charge approval was the culmination of more than a decade of tireless efforts involving investigators from the Southeast District Major Crime Unit, The West Kelowna RCMP, BC RCMP Forensic Identification Services, Support Services, RCMP Forensic Lab and Digital Forensic Services,” Inspector Brent Novakoski, Southeast District Senior Investigating Officer, said in a media release. 

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White and Little have both been detained in provincial court. Their next appearance is scheduled for May 14, 2026, in Kelowna, B.C. 

by Vernon Matters Staff
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