A single vehicle collision south of Clinton on July 25 that claimed the life of one woman and involved a stolen truck is being investigated by the Clinton RCMP and the BC Coroners Service.
Shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 25, Clinton RCMP received a call from BC Emergency Health Services, which had responded to a report that a passenger vehicle had swerved off Highway 97 and was sinking in 6 Mile Lake, eight kilometres south of Clinton.
Frontline officers arrived at the scene to find bystanders performing CPR on an unresponsive adult woman. She was reported to have been an occupant of the vehicle, which had already slipped beneath the water.
“Despite the tireless actions by all those involved in the resuscitation efforts of the woman in her early 30s, which lasted over 45 minutes, she was pronounced deceased at the scene by emergency medical personnel,” says Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey, spokesperson for the BC RCMP.
RCMP notified the BC Coroners Service, which attended the crash site and initiated its own investigation into the woman’s unexpected death. “Although a full determination has yet to be made, police do not believe at this juncture of the investigation that criminality was involved in the woman’s death,” says O’Donaghey.
A second occupant of the vehicle — a man in his 30s — survived the crash, and was taken to hospital by BC Emergency Health Services as a precaution.
On July 27, divers from the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team located the wreckage of the vehicle — a red pickup truck — approximately 33 feet below the surface of the water. With the assistance of a towing company, police pulled the vehicle from 6 Mile Lake.
“Our investigators have since determined that the red 2005 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck pulled from 6 Mile Lake had been reported to Ashcroft RCMP as stolen from Cache Creek back on July 21,” says O’Donaghey.
Anyone who witnessed the crash, observed the pickup truck prior to the incident, or has any additional information that may aid in the investigation is asked to call the Clinton RCMP at (250) 459-2221. If you wish to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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