RCMP revealed Thursday that the victim of Port Alberni’s latest homicide was likely dead two weeks before police arrived at the apartment and found the body.
Police said they were notified about a potential sudden death in a 3rd Avenue apartment Tuesday.
“Investigators, once they showed up, they could tell immediately that the person was deceased and that foul play was suspected,” said Cpl. Chris Manseau with Island District RCMP.
RCMP says it’s difficult to determine exactly how long the body had been there, but with help from the BC Coroner’s Service, they concluded it had been there about two weeks.
Authorities also note that they still haven’t been able to identify the victim.
“We’re asking anybody from the Port Alberni area if you know anyone who’s gone missing or you haven’t been in contact in a couple of weeks to please contact the Port Alberni RCMP you could really help us identify who this victim is,” said Manseau.
One resident says the first time she noticed something was amiss was about a week ago.
“The neighbours and I were talking and we were trying to figure out what the smell was,” said Catelyn Mcleod, a resident in the building.
“It smells awful and it’s worse upstairs. I live on the bottom floor so it wasn’t as bad.”
Eventually, it led to a call to police who arrived suspecting a sudden death.
Mcleod says the tenants who were living in the unit had recently moved in and she believes there may have been some domestic violence.
“I just heard a lot of screaming sometimes and they were there for such a short time and the cops were there quite frequently since they had moved in,” said Mcleod.
On Thursday, Forensic investigators were seen taking fingerprints from a window of the third-story apartment unit.
It’s the second homicide in Port Alberni within five weeks. On March 27th police were called to a body on a sidewalk on 4th Avenue, just a few blocks away from where this latest body was found. His family identified that victim as 20-year-old Clifton Johnston.
Police say the two are not connected.
Kendall Hanson
