A 44-year-old man from the North Okanagan was killed in a single-vehicle accident in Spallumcheen Saturday morning.
Vernon-North Okanagan RCMP officers were alerted to the crash on Highway 97 just north of the MotoPlex Speedway and Event Park at around 2 a.m.
Emergency Health Services personnel found out about the accident through the vehicle’s On-Star program, which was alerted that the vehicle’s air bag had been deployed and the occupants of the vehicle could not be contacted.
“Our officers attended and located the 2006 Chevrolet Impala vehicle off the roadway in a field on the west side of the highway,” said RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk. “No one was located inside the vehicle.”
A search of the area found the body of a man outside. He had been ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.
The victim has been identified as Braden Len Williams, 44, of Armstrong.
“Our police dog service unit attended and conducted a thorough search of the area. No one else was located near the crash site and it is felt that the deceased was the lone occupant of the vehicle,” said Molendyk.
The BC Coroners Service and RCMP traffic analyst attended the scene and conducted their investigations. The highway was not closed during the investigation.
Molendyk said it appears drugs and/or alcohol may have been a factor in the accident, and investigators are trying to determine if speed also played a role in the crash.
This case is now considered a coroners case.
