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Ontario’s police watchdog says it’s invoked its mandate after a 24-year-old was found dead in the snow after a Friday night crash in Ottawa’s south end.
Authorities said the crash happened on Bank Street between Morningside Avenue and Boyd Road, near the rural community of Vernon.
In a press release Sunday, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said Ottawa police had responded at 11:30 p.m. to reports of a rollover involving a minivan.
Officers did not locate anyone in or around the vehicle, the SIU said, and subsequently left the scene.
But the next morning, a police officer returned to the scene and found a dead man nearby, beneath the snow.
Kristy Denette, a spokesperson for the SIU, said it was investigating as Ottawa Police Service officers “may have been in and around the area at the time of the man’s death.”
The man has not been identified.
Several investigators assigned
The SIU has assigned three investigators and one forensic investigator to the case. A post-mortem examination is being scheduled for this week, the agency added.
The SIUÂ investigates incidents involving police and civilians that have resulted in serious injury, death or allegations of sexual assault.
Ottawa police said they’re also investigating and are asking for information from anyone who saw the crash or may have dashcam footage.