Positive ID of remains ends missing person case after 23 years

A missing person case in Regina is over after 23 years.

In a media release Friday, the Regina Police Service said human remains discovered Dec. 3 have been identified as those of Patrick Cyril Thauberger.

Thauberger’s remains were found in an undisclosed location in rural Saskatchewan. The then-53-year-old was last seen in early September of 1997 and was reported missing to police on Sept. 16 of that year.

The police investigation into the disappearance led to the arrest of Thauberger’s brother, Joseph, on Nov. 30.

Joseph Thauberger, 78, is facing charges of first-degree murder, offering an indignity to a dead human body and uttering threats. The latter charge stems from threats that allegedly were made to a woman between 1997 and 2014.

After Patrick Thauberger’s disappearance, police put a photo and information about the missing man on their website and, eventually, on the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police Long-Term Missing Persons webpage as well.

In 2006, the Edmonton Journal did a story about the disappearance. Patrick Thauberger was a psychologist living in St. Albert, Alta., at the time of his disappearance.

According to the Journal account, Thauberger left St. Albert in late August. He was driving a vintage blue limousine, with another in tow, and was en route to a car auction in Auburn, Ind., to sell the cars.

After selling his cars, he visited friends in the U.S., took a bus to Winnipeg and then headed to Regina to visit family.

Following a stay of only a few days, he planned to take a bus back to Edmonton. Joseph drove Patrick to the bus depot.

“I just dropped him off and headed back to the farm,” Joseph told the Journal. “And that was that.”

That was the last time Patrick was seen.

After years of investigating, officers arrested Joseph Thauberger and charged him with murder. His next court appearance is set for July 12.

Police said Patrick Thauberger’s family has been notified that his remains have been identified.