Police widen search near missing girl's home

Police are widening their search in a criminal investigation in northeastern New Brunswick believed to be connected to the case of a missing teen.

Hilary Bonnell, 16, disappeared two months ago. She was last seen on the morning of Sept. 5 walking along Highway 11 in Eskinuopitijk First Nation, commonly known as Burnt Church.

On Thursday, after gathering some evidence, RCMP wrapped up a three-day search of a residential property neara convenience store in the area where Hilary was last seen.

Officers have also been searching another, more remote property in the nearby community of Tabusintac.

Both properties are said to belong to Hilary's uncle, band councillor Christopher Bonnell, but police have been tight-lipped about whether the searches are connected to Hilary's disappearance.

Now, police are interested in some new properties, Insp. Roch Fortin told theCBC on Saturday.

"The area we're searching are pieces of land in the area that have come to certain interest to us," he said, declining to elaborate.

"We just want to make sure that we do very meticulous search of the area of those properties."

Fortin declined to disclose the number of properties or their location, but did say they are near Eskinuopitijk and Tabusintac.

The search will continue until at least Saturday, he said.