Authorities are investigating the death of a 16-year-old girl, who was found dead in east Vancouver, hours after she was reported missing to local law enforcement.
On Tuesday morning, a 9-1-1 call led Vancouver Police to a home near the Pacific National Exhibition on East Pender, near Renfew Street, where police found her body inside. Just hours earlier, the girl had been reported missing to North Vancouver RCMP.
VPD officers were spotted by residents in her home town on Monday. According to neighbours, officers asked residents about her whereabouts.
“They said that there was a girl, young girl, that was missing and her phone had pinged to our address here,” a neighbour who asked not to be identified told Global News.
The man, who has lived in the neighbourhood for 13 years, said he told police the missing teen was not at their home and asked if officers wanted to look around.
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“They believed us, obviously we didn’t have anybody here,” the neighbour said.
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“I had told them that I was walking my dog an hour earlier and had noticed the gentleman that lives next door with a girl, sitting on the deck at the front of the house having a smoke or cigarette, and I said maybe check that side.”
VPD said that while North Vancouver RCMP had conduct of the missing person investigation, information led them to East Vancouver, where officers spent considerable time searching for the teen – including knocking on doors and speaking to residents in the neighbourhood where they thought she might be.
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“Information that we received was that her phone was pinging somewhere around the Hastings Park area,” said Sgt. Steve Addison with the Vancouver Police Department. “We took every step that we reasonably could in the middle of the night to try to locate her.”
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Authorities say they won’t be able to confirm the cause of death until the coroner provides its findings, which will likely require toxicology testing.
“It would be irresponsible to state at this early stage of the investigation what the suspected cause of death was,” Addison told Global News.
Addison added they have shared some preliminary information with the teenagers’s family and will continue to do so as the investigation progresses.
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Neighbours said the home is used for short-term rentals.
When Global News visited the address Wednesday, a man in an upstairs suite said he was unable to speak about the sudden death, but promised to email more information on what transpired.
“I (will) send you a complete package with all the information,” he said. “It’s very complex, it’s not just one event, it’s many events running into each other.”
VPD is now leading the investigation and is asking anyone with information to reach out to Vancouver Police Major Crime Section.
