A man is dead and a woman in serious condition in hospital following a vehicle crash near Red Rock this weekend. Police are indicating that there might be more to it than simply a motor vehicle incident.
"It is a very complicated investigation and we do have a number of scenarios we will be ruling out, in order to confirm what happened," said Prince George RCMP spokesman Cpl. Craig Douglass. "We have dedicated a number of resources to this investigation. It is unusual and complicated."
Police would not say what indicators were present suggesting how the man died or how the woman's injuries were caused. An autopsy has been ordered, Douglass said, and hospital staff are scheduled to update police sometime today on the woman's health condition.
Police are not disclosing where the two are from, but The Citizen has learned that the female is a longtime Prince George resident known to most in her circle only by a nickname.
The man's current residency was not learned, other than his next of kin had to travel here from another town once the incident happened.
"I am optimistic that later this week we will be able to discuss his cause of death," said Douglass.
Why the two were in the vehicle together in a secluded area outside of town late at night is also a matter of speculation.
"The Prince George detachment was dispatched to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the Red Rock area," said RCMP spokeswoman Const. Lesley Smith shortly after the incident was reported on Saturday at about 5:30 a.m. "The vehicle involved had fled the area but was then located by a witness a short distance away, down an embankment on a forest service road...In essence right now we have a motor vehicle incident and a series of other possible criminal elements to investigate."
According to police, the public faces no dangers as a result of whatever transpired. It was too early in the investigation to disclose if the woman was known to police, Douglass said, but the man was not on any police radar he had so far heard of.
