Friends of taxi driver killed on Perth Road trying to locate family

Taxi driver Charles Vautrin was struck and killed by a vehicle while riding his bicycle to work in the early morning hours of August 16. 2019.

Vautrin had worked at Amey’s Greenwood Taxi for close to a decade and the taxi company’s owner, Mark Greenwood, says he was an exemplary employee.

“Customer called to say thank you to Charles,” says Greenwood, reading from Vautrin’s employee file,”for returning her lost phone back to her free of charge.”

According to several of Vautrin’s co-workers, he was kind, friendly, always smiling but also private.

Greenwood says that’s why they are speaking to Global news.

“The staff is quite upset,” he said. “We’re trying to locate his next of kin and we have several staff members that knew him from the company.”

One of those co-workers is Najam Kodvav.

Kodvav worked with Vautrin for the last year and a half and says it breaks his heart knowing his friend’s body hasn’t been claimed.

“We are looking for his family so at least we can combine together and do a celebration of life,” Kodvav said.

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Perhaps the person that knew Vautrin best is fellow cab driver Tamara Baker.

She says no one even has a picture of Vautrin.

“He’s very humble,” she said. “He wasn’t one for pictures.”

Both Baker and Kodvav say finding family has been a challenge because Vautrin didn’t talk about himself very much.

Baker says the only information she has about his family is very limited.

“He told me he grew up in Manhattan, his father left when he was very young but he was close to his mother,” Baker said.

Unfortunately, Vautrin’s mother has passed, says Baker.

His co-workers are now asking anyone that might have information to contact them or call Kingston police.