Coroner releases findings

Man found dead alongside Highway 97 on the Channel Parkway in July died of pneumonia

  • Dec. 8, 2011 7:00 a.m.

The coroner’s investigation into the death of a man found alongside Highway 97 on the Channel Parkway in July determined he had been dead for approximately one week.

On July 7, around 7:30 p.m. an unidentified male was found in a pool of water in the east roadside catchment, approximately 500 metres south of Duncan Avenue.

The male was later identified as 46-year-old Kelly Dean Nystrom, who had no-fixed-address. The investigative findings in the coroner’s report state that a transient person’s small campsite was found on a hillside approximately 15 metres east of where Nystrom’s body was found.

The report said the campsite was built on and around a water catchment basin that was usually dry. On the afternoon of July 7, the area received a large rainfall which filled the catchment basin. The report said this washed the body of Nystrom downstream to the catchment basin.

The post-mortem/toxicology examination ruled the cause of his death to be pneumonia.

 

Penticton Western News