WATCH: Police in the Comox Valley are appealing to the public for help after a cyclist was found, critically injured in a roadside ditch north of the city. He later died. As Dean Stoltz tell us, investigators stop short of calling it a hit and run.
Comox Valley RCMP is investigating the death of a 67-year-old Courtenay man who was found in a ditch Wednesday.
Police say they responded to a call at 5:20 p.m. of a cyclist in distress.
The incident happened on a straight stretch of Left Road, south of Whitaker Road. A passerby found the critically injured man lying in the southbound ditch.
The man was rushed to hospital by ambulance but pronounced dead on arrival.
Investigators don?t know what happened to him and they don?t know how long he?s been lying there.
“We are trying to establish a timeline,” said Const. Rob Gardner of the Comox Valley RCMP. “We don?t know the time that this man ended up in the ditch and that?s crucial to the investigation. We need to try and figure out what happened, at this time we have no witnesses.”
A resident who lives in the area tells CHEK News he came out of his house when he saw all the emergency vehicles. He says he saw the bicycle which was a mountain bike, adding it did not appear to be damaged.
When asked if there was any evidence of a hit and run, Gardner would only say all avenues are being investigated.
The cyclist was wearing a helmet and reflective clothing.
Police are asking anyone who might have seen the man cycling on Left Road anytime before 5:20 to call investigators at 250-338-1321.
A cyclist was found in a ditch on Left Road and later pronounced dead .
Andy Neal
