Missionary woman found dead in crashed vehicle

Early Monday morning (July 8), a woman was found dead in a vehicle at the bottom of a steep embankment in Mission.

In a press release on Friday (July 12), the RCMP mission asked the public for more information about the incident.

According to police, forestry workers encountered a 33-year-old man on the Norrish Creek Forest Service Road around 4:30 a.m. on July 8.

The man told forest workers that he had been driving his blue 2003 Ford Explorer the day before when it crashed off an embankment. According to the news release, a woman from the Mission area was a passenger in the vehicle and died in the crash.

He said he managed to climb up the steep embankment to the roadway. Police said the man was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and later released.

The Mission Search and Rescue Society helped other rescue crews reach the wreckage, which was more than 300 metres below the road. The Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service and the BC Coroner’s Service were also on scene.

A provincial news release listed the accident among 19 traffic fatalities in the Lower Mainland between July 5 and 10.

“This may have been an accident, however we are still in the early stages of gathering information and have not yet been able to confirm whether the woman died solely as a result of the accident or whether other factors contributed to her death,” Mission RCMP said.

The Mounties are asking anyone who was at the Paradise Swimming Hole between July 7 and July 11, or anyone who saw a blue 2003 Ford Explorer on the Norrish Creek Forest Service Road on July 7, to call dispatch at 604-826-7161.