At a news conference held at the Southern Alberta District RCMP headquarters in Airdrie this morning (February 19th) Superintendent Garrett Woolsey announced an arrest in a 16-year-old murder case.

Woolsey said that the RCMP's Major Crimes Unit (MCU) based in Calgary have arrested and charged 49-year-old Stephane Joseph Raymond Robert Parent and charged him with Second Degree Murder in the death of Adrienne McColl whose body was found in a rancher's field near Nanton on February 17th, 2002.

Woolsey said Parent was arrested without incident outside his residence in Gatineau, Quebec this past weekend by MCU investigators.  Parent is being returned to Calgary today and will have his first court appearance at a date yet to be determined.

Adrienne McColl was 21 years old at the time of her death and was last seen around Valentine's Day in 2002.  Her body was found by a rancher tending to his cattle near Nanton, Alberta three days later.

On February 12th of this year, the RCMP put out a plea for further information on the case.  During today's news conference, Superintendent Woolsey thanked the media for their coverage of the case over the past week.

The investigation involved members from several specialized units of the RCMP as well as investigators in O Division in Ontario and K Division in Alberta.  

The RCMP said McColl and Parent worked together at a bar in Calgary prior to the murder.

When asked by a member of the media if cracking a 16-year-old murder case should give other families who are waiting for long sought after answers, fresh hope, Woolsey said, "Don't ever give up because the police won't give up."  

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