A deceased woman was found in a ditch off Highway 5 approximately 50 kilometres south of Merritt on Sunday.
Northbound traffic was stopped near the Mine Creek Road exit due to a motor vehicle collision when a motorist decided to go for a walk and discovered the female’s body in the ditch near the highway.
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Merritt RCMP Staff Sgt. Lorne Wood said it is unclear how long the woman had been there. She did not appear to have been struck by a vehicle or have any serious injuries.
“Right now there are no signs of foul play but we are still treating it as such until the coroner completes an autopsy and we can hopefully come up with a cause of death,” he said.
The investigation is just beginning, Wood explained, but the woman appears to have been in her 20s or 30s and did not appear to match any known missing persons reports.
“She had darker skin, I’m not 100 per cent sure of ethnicity. She does have longer dyed blonde and red hair, as well as several tattoos,” he added.
Anyone with information that could lead to her identification is asked to contact Merritt RCMP at 250-378-4262 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
