Quebec provincial police and the province’s independent police watchdog are investigating after two bodies were found inside a parked car in Montreal’s east end Thursday.
The Sûreté du Québec have taken over the criminal investigation while the independent police watchdog, known as the BEI, is investigating how Montreal police handled the case.
The independent police watchdog, known as the BEI, confirmed in the afternoon that a man and woman — who are members of the same family — were found dead in the St-Leonard borough after they were reported missing earlier this week.
The BEI said in a statement that local authorities were first called Wednesday by a concerned relative and Montreal police were asked to go the home where both the man and woman lived.
A missing persons notice was issued and efforts were made to find both of them, according to the watchdog.
Emergency services were called at 12:30 a.m. Thursday after two bodies were found in a black SUV in an industrial area at the intersection of Pascal-Gagnon and Louis-Sicard streets. Montreal police confirmed the pair were unconscious and despite resuscitation efforts, they were pronounced dead at the scene.
There were marks of violence on the their bodies and their deaths were being treated as suspicious by authorities.
The BEI said four of its investigators have been assigned to the case. The watchdog is mandated to investigate cases in which people die or are injured during interventions by Quebec police.
— with files from Global’s Brayden Jagger Haines and The Canadian Press