The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has cleared Red Deer RCMP officers of any wrongdoing after a man was found dead in a wooded area of the central Alberta city in 2015.
ASIRT said RCMP had tried to stop a reported stolen vehicle on Oct. 6, 2015. The driver refused to stop, but police located and followed the vehicle again a short time later.
The vehicle stopped in the area of 32 Street, east of Taylor Drive and two people ran into the woods. Police were unable to find them.
On Oct. 21, a family member issued a missing person report which launched an investigation into his whereabouts.
The man was found underwater in Waskasoo Creek, near the area he was last seen, on Nov. 11.
An autopsy the next day determined the death to be non-criminal.
In a release issued on Tuesday, ASIRT said charges wouldn’t be laid against the officers because there was no physical contact with the man before his death and the search was “appropriately conducted and resourced” even though it was unsuccessful.
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