A man who police say was in an intimate relationship with missing Maple Ridge woman Jessica Cunningham has been charged with indignity to human remains after a body was found in the home they shared in a cul-de-sac in the community east of Vancouver.
Police say they have yet to confirm whether the remains are those of 43-year-old Cunningham, who was last seen in June and reported missing in July.
Ridge Meadows RCMP called in the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team after finding the remains at Cunningham's home on Tuesday, and Mylie Barron was arrested and charged on Wednesday.
Staff Sgt. David Lee of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said Thursday that Barron and Cunningham lived together in a relationship, and investigators were still trying to build a timeline of the woman's activities before her disappearance.
"IHIT is working diligently to understand the circumstances surrounding Jessica's disappearance," Lee said at a news conference.
Lee said police were working with the BC Coroners Service to identify the remains found at the suburban home, but he said it's too early to say if the case is one of intimate partner violence.
The Gillis Place cul-de-sac in Maple Ridge has seven single-family homes, and police cordoned off the area "for a significant amount of time" on Tuesday.
Barron 's Facebook profile includes a photograph of Cunningham and a youth.
Lee said missing persons investigations are "very complex," and he couldn't say why it took a month after Cunningham was reported missing for police to find the remains at her home.
"The investigators took various steps," he said. "The evidence they collected led them the back to that residence."
He said he couldn't speculate on any additional charges because the evidence to date only supported a charge of indignity to human remains against Barron, who remains in custody.
Court records show Barron is due in Port Coquitlam court on Sept. 26 for a bail hearing, and that interim bail was denied at his previous appearance.
It says a publication ban has been imposed on evidence at the next hearing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2025.
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press
