Five months after Ben Kilmer mysteriously disappeared on a sunny spring afternoon, his family’s worst fears have been realized.
Now people are being invited to light a candle tonight in Kilmer’s memory.
Dozens of Cowichan Valley residents have written notes of sympathy for Tonya Kilmer, Ben’s wife, and their children. The moderator of one of the Facebook pages that sprung up following Ben Kilmer’s disappearance in May expressed sympathy.
“I would like to invite everyone to light a candle tonight in Ben’s memory and post a picture of it here and you can add a short comment.”
The body of the 41-year-old father of two young children was found on Oct. 17. The Kilmer family was told of the discovery that day but neither the family nor RCMP shared the news until today.
Tonya Kilmer said she received the news from North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP at 9 p.m. on Oct. 17 when Staff Sgt. Kurt Bosnell and Const. Scott Harder came to her door.
“The officers said, ‘We promised you that you would be the first to know. We received a call at 2 p.m. today. Ben had been found. He is no longer with us,'” the grieving widow wrote on Facebook.
The officers told Kilmer her husband’s body was found by a man in a remote area of the Cowichan Valley, near the Chemainus River.
RCMP are saying foul play has been ruled out and the body was found “well outside the original search area.”
A wave of social media posts have expressed condolences and asked questions about the case.
The fact that Kilmer’s van was found running and there was evidence of blood in the vehicle as well as on the ground nearby suggested some type of violence may have taken place.
That has prompted several Facebook posts questioning the RCMP’s insistence that foul play has been ruled out.
One person wrote: “I’m kinda pissed that the police are just like, ‘this isn’t suspicious’ … like … come on. It’s a little suspicious.”
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Tonya with an education fund for the couple’s two children. https://ca.gofundme.com/kilmer-children-education-fund
