BC

The RCMP is planning to unveil a major development in the investigation of 18 missing and murdered women in northern British Columbia.

Castanet will air the news conference live starting at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25.

The cases go back decades and are linked to a stretch of road between Prince Rupert and Prince George dubbed the Highway of Tears, an area made infamous over time for disappearances and grisly discoveries of human remains.

Though dozens of missing and murdered women have been linked to the Highway of Tears, investigators have said 18 cases share hallmarks and may be the work of a serial killer.

Mounties have promised to announce a significant break in the case at a Tuesday press conference, when they will be issuing a plea for assistance from both Canadian and American citizens.

Sources both north and south of the border have told CTV News that DNA evidence has led police to a man convicted of murder in Oregon in 1996. He died in prison in 2006.

Should the source turn out to be correct, that would leave several of the Highway of Tears murders unsolved – though investigators have always worked under the assumption there could be several killers responsible.