Police do not suspect foul play after discovering the body of a Sundre man who faced a number of charges relating to allegations of online extortion.
A warrant had been issued for Jeffrey Lance Hughes, 56, after he had failed to appear in Didsbury court on Monday, May 9.
About a week later, the RCMP found his body when officers executed the warrant. Police said his neighbours had not seen or heard from him for a number of days.
Hughes' next of kin and the victim from Ontario have been notified, said police.
On Monday, Feb. 22 the RCMP received a report about a male who was attempting to extort money from an adult female in Ontario.
“The victim is the one who brought it forward to the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) and then they did their investigation and forwarded it to us,” the Sundre RCMP detachment's Cpl. Joe Mandel previously told the Round Up.
During the course of the investigation, police learned the two individuals had previously been involved in an intimate relationship. During the relationship, Hughes had allegedly surreptitiously video-recorded intimacy the couple had engaged in. At the conclusion of the relationship, Hughes allegedly blackmailed the victim and demanded money in exchange for keeping the videos private, officials said.
On Tuesday, March 8, members of the Sundre RCMP detachment executed a search warrant at the suspect's residence in Sundre.
Hughes had been charged with the following offences: extortion, distributing intimate images without consent, criminal harassment, voyeurism, two counts of unsafe storage of firearms, and two counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm, said police.
