Private investigator Ray Michalko has been on the case of the Highway of Tears murders for two years, but he’s ready to throw in the towel.

Michalko has received a letter from a high-ranking RCMP officer warning him he could be charged with obstructing justice if he doesn’t tread carefully.

Eighteen girls and women have gone missing or been found murdered along the so-called Highway of Tears — Highway 16 in northern B.C. — in the past 30 years.

Michalko, a retired RCMP officer who became a private investigator eight years ago, said yesterday the letter came from RCMP Staff-Sgt. Bruce Hulan.

“If the RCMP can do this on any open investigation, they at any time could say to me: ‘Stop what you’re doing there,’” Michalko said.

“This is Canada. When you’re doing something legal to help somebody, you don’t expect such opposition. They’re pretty territorial. I was probably like that when I was a cop, too.”

He has consulted a lawyer to determine whether to go on.

“I’m licensed under the provincial statutes to investigate crime,” he said. “I think it’s a stretch what [Hulan] is suggesting, but I don’t want to go to jail for one day.”

RCMP Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre said the Mounties felt they had to rein in their former cohort after a story ran in a northern B.C. newspaper.

“Mr. Michalko had made a statement . . . that an arrest was imminent or he was expecting some major development,” said Lemaitre, spokesman for the RCMP in B.C.

“What concerned the head of [the investigation] is they have been extremely careful to always keep the family members informed . . . to always talk to the families first.

“With that announcement [by Michalko], of course, our phones did ring. Unfortunately, that’s not factual.”

Michalko said although money from private citizens for his services ran out last year, he still gets leads on a weekly basis and his conscience won’t let him quit the case.

“The RCMP has not been all that happy with me from the beginning,” he said. “I have no desire to obstruct justice or screw up their investigation.”

Lemaitre said the Highway of Tears investigation, officially dubbed Project E-Pana, is “very active with specialized, experienced investigators [who] are seconded to this full-time and that’s all they do.”

Prince George lumber and mining supplier Tony Romeyn has created a website — highwayoftears.ca — to try to help solve the puzzling murders.

“I have respect for Mr. Michalko because he’s doing this out of his own pocket,” said Romeyn. “I think he’s doing great work, just stepping over the boundaries a little bit.

“The police keep things pretty close to their chest. It’s probably a good idea. I do feel they are working very diligently.”