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Coroner investigating death in Keremeos washroom

Update 1:30 p.m. Aug. 23:
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Update 1:30 p.m. Aug. 23:

A 22-year-old man was found dead in the bathroom at Memorial Park in Keremeos Wednesday morning.

A municipal employee found the man around 6:40 a.m. when he went to clean the washrooms and open them for the day.

“We do not have a cause of death at this point but it is not deemed suspicious at this time. No foul play is suspected. The coroners service is investigating,” Cpl. Brian Evans of the RCMP detachment said Wednesday afternoon.

Evans said the man’s identity is not being released at this time as next of kin has yet to be notified.

He did not comment on where the man was from.

At this point it is not known if drugs were a factor but Evans said “a rush” was being put being on toxicology reports.

“We don’t know what the cause of death is until we get from toxicology. The coroners office is investigating and once we know more we could speak to that,” he said.

The public washrooms at the park are on automatic timers to lock at 7 p.m. each night but something can be put in the door to stop that process from happening.

In the past municipal employees have found people in the washrooms sleeping when they do a check in the morning. Keremeos attracts a large transient population in the summer months many of whom work on area farms picking fruits and vegetables.

ORIGINAL:

Details are scarce surrounding a BC Coroners Service investigation that is taking place in Keremeos Wednesday.

RCMP officers and a coroner attended the public washrooms in Memorial Park early Wednesday morning.

“We are aware, attended the scene and are investigating but no other details are available at this time as it’s still early in the investigation,” Andy Watson, manager strategic communications, for the BC Coroners Service stated in an email.

It’s unknown at this time the age of the deceased or gender. It’s unknown when the death occurred.

Marg Coulson, CAO of the village, said the public washrooms at the park are on timers to automatically close at about 7 p.m. and reopen at around 7 a.m.

She noted that if someone wanted to keep the door open later they would just need to keep it propped open.

“There’s no alarm,” she said.

When asked if a village employee found the deceased person in the washroom, Coulson said, “this is a police incident and I have to refer all questions to the police.”

The Review has calls out the Keremeos RCMP detachment and the media officer for the South Okanagan.

We will update this story as more information comes available.